Return to the Wizarding World
by snuggle the muggle
Summary: Cassie Robinson has been trying to adjust to life after the events of Among the Muggles Again with limited success. However, something happens that suddenly thrusts her back into the magical community. This story is now completed!
1. Hogwarts Bound

This story is a sequel to my story Among the Muggles . . . Again. I think it is important to have read the first story before you read this one or you will be fairly confused. 

This story begins several months after the scene in Dumbledore's office. Cassie Robinson has been trying to adjust to life after her visit to Hogwarts with limited success. However, something happens that suddenly thrusts her back into the magical community. Old scars will be reopened and feelings will have to be re-examined as Cassie meets her wizarding friends again.

As always, I would appreciate any comments, questions, or reviews.

  
  


Chapter 1

Hogwarts Bound

It was perhaps the strangest sight ever witnessed in the Robinson family room. In the middle of the room stood an open travel trunk, nearly full. Inside were some books, witch's robes, a witch's hat, some quills and parchment, and a broomstick. While the Robinsons had certainly used their family room to pack for trips before, they had never before packed to send someone to Hogwarts. 

Into the room came Cassie followed closely by her mother, who had a pinched, tired look around her mouth. Cassie was dressed in a white blouse and pleated gray skirt which ended just above her knees. She wore the red and gold tie of Gryffindor house knotted neatly around her neck. Over all of this she wore one of the black robes required for the young witches and wizards at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Cassie was carrying a make-up case and some Muggle clothing. Her mother was also carrying some of Cassie's clothes, a particularly bulky pile of sweaters. They both put their things into the trunk and Cassie closed the lid. "Honestly, Mum, don't worry so much. I'm sure I won't freeze to death. They have fireplaces all through the castle." 

"That may be but Remus said you have at least two classes outside. And I don't think this robe will do much to keep you warm." She fingered the thin material and her lips pinched together even tighter. 

"Everyone else manages to survive, Mother, I'm sure they must have some sort of provision made." 

"But Scotland, northern Scotland. It's going to be so . . ." 

"Rebecca, don't worry. All the students do just fine there. We don't like them freezing to death," Arthur Weasley said gently.

"Well, but . . ." She didn't look very convinced. She looked to her husband for some support, but he just stared at his daughter and didn't say a word. Cassie looked from her mother to the three men watching her from near the fire. She smiled self-consciously. Her mother was certainly making a fuss. The light from the fire and lamps in the room reflected across her face which deepened the contrast between her blond hair and her somber black robes. 

"You look perfect." Remus Lupin smiled at her and Cassie relaxed. It had been important that he think so. "Professor Dumbledore took the liberty of assigning you to Gryffindor. He decided that having you sorted might be, um, problematic. So Arthur picked the Gryffindor scarf and tie up for you. 

Mr. Weasley smiled broadly and looked on in appreciation at Cassie's new uniform. "You do look wonderful, Cassie." He turned to her father, still looking amazed and bewildered at the scene before him. "She'll do fine, Andrew. You don't need to worry. Muggle-born children adapt quickly to the differences. She'll fit right in." 

"I'll be fine, Dad. I really will." 

Andrew Robinson forced a reassuring smile but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "I know you will, sweety. It's just a lot happening all at once. Two days ago I thought witches and wizards only existed in fairy tales. Then, you tell me that Harry Evans, uh, Potter, is actually a wizard who goes to wizard school. And now I'm watching you go off to this same school in Scotland and who knows where after that." 

Arthur soothingly patted Cassie's father on the shoulder. "I understand, Andrew. It's just that now that Cassie knows, it's best to get her away from the Muggles and to Hogwarts as soon as possible." He suddenly flushed. "Sorry about that Muggles comment." Cassie's parents smiled patiently back at Arthur. They had taken almost immediately to him - even before they knew he was a wizard. They had found him odd, interesting, funny, and enjoyable to visit with. Although it took a little persuading for the Robinsons to believe that both Arthur and Remus were wizards, they eventually had. And they trusted the two older wizards with Cassie. Of course, Cassie wondered if that would still be the case if she told them Remus' secret, that in only a few days before he would be a full-grown wolf, again. Not that she would, of course, but she imagined she would be keeping a lot more secrets from them now then she ever had before. 

"It is highly irregular for a student to be placed in Hogwarts in the middle of the school year. However, circumstances being what they are . . . . Dumbledore is taking care of all of that. We'll be going directly to his office when we portkey." He turned to Cassie. "Do you have your wand with you?" 

Cassie fished into a pocket of her robes and pulled out a 9 ½ inch cherry wood wand with a core of unicorn hair. Cassie had been very excited to know that her wand would have a unicorn hair in it. Since she was a little girl, she had loved unicorns and thought they were beautiful. She had been thrilled when she was at Hogwarts in June to not only learn that unicorns were real and to not only see one, but to actually be able to pet one. Cassie's thoughts were brought back to the present as she heard Mr. Weasley explaining how she had to keep her wand with her. "Remember, Cassie, witches and wizards try to keep their wands with them at all times in case they need them. You should do the same - either in your robe pocket or the pockets of your Muggle clothes." 

Cassie nodded and fidgeted a little out of nervousness. "I hope I remembered everything. I guess if I forgot anything, mum, you could send it by owl post." At the puzzled and worried expression on her parents' faces, Mr. Weasley again spoke up. 

"I'll explain how to send things to her in a few moments." Somehow, her parents didn't look comforted at the idea, but they let the subject drop as Remus pulled a cloth bag out of his pocket. 

Here's a little spending money, Cassie. This should last for a while. Do you know how the money works?" 

"Um, yeah. I think so. It's 27 knuts to the sickle and 17 sickles to the Galleon, right?" 

"That's impressive. But it's actually 29 knuts to the sickle." 

"Oh. Sorry." Cassie felt a blush creep over her face. She wondered if she'd ever fit in to this world. Right now she had her serious doubts. 

"There's one more thing. Rebecca, Andrew. I don't imagine Cassie told you about Hogsmeade?" Both her parents shook their head and Arthur again jumped in. 

"The students love it. They can go in their third year and up, so Cassie'll be allowed. I think there's probably a trip in a week or so." 

"What is it, exactly?" Her father had been a brick about all of this but he was still concerned about her safety. 

Remus answered his question. "It's a village. The only completely wizarding village in Britain. It's very close to the school and the students can go there to buy sweets and school supplies and socialize. Honeydukes is there." He looked meaningfully at Cassie's mom and she turned a pale shade of pink. "But she will need a permission form signed. I brought one with me tonight. I think that Cassie would have a wonderful time there and it would allow her to fit in a little easier. That's important, I'm sure you'll agree." 

"Okay." Cassie bit her lip as her father signed the paper. His hand shook a little as he finished and handed it back to Remus. She felt so bad for doing this to her parents but did she really have any choice? "Are the visits supervised? I wouldn't want her to get into any trouble." 

Mr. Weasley answered again and Cassie appreciated him. He had children of his own and so he could understand her parents' worries. "I can understand your concerns, considering the circumstances. But there's no reason to worry. The students keep an eye on each other and I am sure that her friends will stick close. And, truthfully, the teachers often go down to Hogsmeade for a nip in the Three Broomsticks. In the winter, the students often hang out there and have a warm butterbeer or two themselves." Cassie groaned to herself. Did he have to mention butterbeer? Maybe her parents wouldn't notice. They noticed. 

"Butterbeer? Is it alcoholic? Cassie, you know you are too young to . . . ." 

"Don't worry, don't worry. Shouldn't have mentioned it, I suppose. It's only got a very little bit, I mean, it's barely, well, I mean . . . ." His voice trailed off and he looked at Cassie apologetically. 

"Mum, Dad. Don't worry. I know how to take care of . . . ." But she was not able to finish her sentence before her mother jumped onto another subject. Cassie bit her lip. She supposed it was natural that her parents would be worried. She was being plunged suddenly into a world that they knew nothing about and one where they could not follow. She needed to be patient. She glanced in what she hoped was a sly manner at her watch. Remus had said they would be leaving at 7. That meant she had about 10 more minutes to endure her mother's fretting and her father's shell-shocked expression. 

"And, Cassie, you make sure to eat healthy." Turning to Remus, she elaborated. "Cassie said that when she ate dinner there, she did not see any vegetables or salads or anything. I know that traditional British food is rather sparse on the vegetables and I understand that's the menu at the school, basically." 

"Well," Remus answered, obviously a little taken aback by this line of questioning, "I have seen vegetables and salads offered at most meals . . . . It's just that particular night, I think that it was more of a comfort food sort of thing. I mean, all things considered . . ." Cassie started shaking her head behind her mother's back frantically, praying with all of her might that Remus would notice and not follow that conversation through to its natural conclusion. She had told her mother about the battle and everything, but her father still didn't know any details. Apparently, her prayers were answered because Remus looked up at the movement and understood. "Uh, um, well . . . there were vegetables that night. There are always vegetables." Cassie's mother relaxed a little more when he said that. "Anyway, we can speak to the house elves about . . . ."

Her father laughed loudly and everyone turned to looked at him, Remus and Arthur looking faintly puzzled and Cassie and her mother looking embarrassed. Andrew Robinson quickly recognized his faux pas and stammered "Oh, well, I, I thought you were joking, uh, you know, about the elves. Sorry." Remus and Arthur smiled and turned back to Cassie and her mother. 

"Anyway, we can talk to the elves and they'll make sure that she eats things she is comfortable with. Do not worry about it, all right? I think you have enough on your mind." Both her parents nodded and Cassie's mother even smiled a little.

"Remember, drink a lot of juice for breakfast. It will help you avoid getting sick, especially if you're out in the cold a lot."

Cassie grinned. "Oh, don't worry, I'll drink plenty of pumpkin juice. It's delicious." 

Her father got a sick look on his face. "Pumpkin juice? That's disgusting." 

Arthur jumped in. "It's really quite good, especially when served chilled. Maybe I can bring you some sometime." Neither of the Robinsons looked too excited at that suggestion.

"Mum, I don't know why you are so worried. You left me here alone, well, with Harry, for a week last summer and trusted me to take care of myself. And I did okay." Her mother turned and Cassie swore that there was fire in her mother's eyes. 

"If I were you, young lady, I would not be bringing up that week as evidence of your trustworthiness. You broke multiple rules, not the least of which was going to Scotland. So I don't know that . . . ."

"Now, Rebecca," Cassie's father broke in. "She's explained all that. You can't hold it against her." Cassie swallowed hard. She definitely should not have brought up that subject. Her mother was right. She and Harry had gotten into some difficulties, but neither of them could be blamed for any of it. They had tried to be careful. She had stayed overnight at Harry's, it was true, but how could she do otherwise when a Death Eater was practically camped on his front step, and then she had gone to Hogwarts and joined in the middle of a battle, but that was for her own protection. She searched frantically in her mind for a way to change the subject before her mother started in on her again. Fortunately, Remus saved her. 

"We're almost ready to leave. The portkey will take us right at 7." Arthur seemed to want to explain more about this option in the hopes of calming the two Muggles down, but Cassie thought he was probably just making her parents more nervous. 

"We considered having her go by Floo powder. Young witches and wizards usually travel that way until they get their license to apparate. But we decided that using the portkey would be better." Arthur saw the puzzlement on their faces and hastened to elaborate. "Floo powder is a way of traveling through connected fireplaces. You step into the flames and then throw . . . ." Her parents had a look of utmost horror on their faces and Arthur seemed to realize that he was not helping the situation. "Uh, well, anyway. They're not doing that." 

Cassie stepped toward her parents and swallowed hard. She hugged her father and he hugged her back and then kissed her cheek. She then turned to her mother and they hugged for a long time. Her mother wiped her eyes and attempted to smile. Cassie felt an ache in the back of her throat and realized this was going to be harder than she had thought. Now it was her turn to put on a brave smile. 

"I'll be okay, mum. I really will." 

"I know, dear. I do trust you, I really do. Don't worry about us, either. We'll be fine. You just enjoy it as much as you can."

"Be sure to give Matthew and John a hug for me." 

"You know I will. They're going to miss you, despite everything they said." Cassie smiled faintly. Her mother had sent her two younger brothers to friends that evening so they wouldn't get in the way of the packing and everything. The brothers had pretended utter joy and excitement at Cassie's departure, arguing over who would get her room. 

Cassie straightened her shoulders and walked over to her trunk. Remus sat on one end and held the handle. Cassie sat next to him and grabbed the handle on her end. He reached into the pocket of his robe and pulled out the now-familiar lion paperweight. She laid her hand on the lion's head. "We've got just another few moments, Cassie." She nodded.

"I hope this is easier than the other times I've traveled by portkey." She had found it very unpleasant in the past, landing in very awkward positions at Hogwarts, in Diagon Alley, and back at home. 

"It does get a little easier each time. But I don't know that you ever get used to it." 

Cassie looked at her parents and did her best to give a reassuring smile. They were also trying to smile and Cassie tried to relax for their sakes. All kinds of thoughts were racing through her head at that moment. She was scared, curious, worried, happy, sad . . . . She had only one time before been so far from her family and that hadn't worked out particularly well. Now she was going to be just as far away for a lot longer than a week. She hoped things would work out. She hoped it would all go the way it was supposed to. She was homesick already. And yet, she felt a thrill of excitement. She was doing something she had not thought would ever be possible. She was going back to Hogwarts, as a student! Then she felt the now-familiar tug behind her navel and her parents, Arthur Weasley, and her family room disappeared. 


	2. Arrivals

Author's Note: This chapter begins a series of several that are mainly flashbacks, to explain how and why Cassie is at Hogwarts. I also want to mention that the very happy, bubbly girl we met in the first story is definitely absent from this chapter. But don't worry, she'll come back. She's just got a lot on her mind right now. With that thought, then, enjoy the story!

  
  


Chapter 2

Arrivals

Cassie and Remus Lupin arrived in Albus Dumbledore's office with a loud noise as the trunk hit the floor. Cassie blinked and blew her hair out of her eyes, happy that she was only half off her trunk. Remus was right, each time she used a portkey, it seemed to go a little better and she was less beat-up looking when she got there. She let go of the handle of her trunk and slid in an ungainly heap onto the floor. She glanced up at Remus and grimaced. He looked cool and collected, still sitting calmly on the trunk. Cassie got up from her undignified position, straightening her robes and skirt in the process. "There. That wasn't so bad, was it?" Remus stood up, smiling. 

"Well, we got here in one piece. I guess I can't complain too loudly." Cassie looked around Dumbledore's office, noting some slight changes since she had been here last. Fawkes was looking much more like when she had first seen him, although he wasn't as large as she remembered. But at least he was a normal color, not the gray bundle of feathers he had been before. The extra chairs that had been here for the meeting where she had decided not to have her memory modified were gone, also. But she imagined that was a pretty easy bit of magic for someone as powerful as Professor Dumbledore seemed to be. Remus put the lion paperweight back down on the desk and it looked to Cassie like there were a few new gadgets there also, although she couldn't be sure. 

The door opened and Dumbledore walked in, smiling kindly at her. Cassie swallowed nervously. He had never been anything but kind to her, but she knew she was always troublesome for him. "Hello, Remus. Did everything go well? And hello again, Miss Robinson. We are so pleased to have you at our school even though the situation is a little unusual." 

"Thanks." She relaxed a little. She imagined that he was not exactly thrilled with the situation, but at least he hadn't turned her into a toad or anything. Yet.

"I see you're wearing your school uniform - and the Gryffindor colors. Very good. Very good. Ordinarily we would have you wear the Sorting Hat and allow the hat to select the house in which you belong. However, I felt it would be better for me just to place you in a house. Did Mr. Potter tell you that the main requirement for students in Gryffindor house is courage?" Cassie shook her head. She had absolutely no idea about any of that - and how did the hat decide, anyway? "You, young lady, have already exhibited great courage, so I am sure you will fit in just fine there. Also, your friends are in Gryffindor and they will be very helpful to you while you're here." 

"You normally let the hat decide which house the students go into? How does that work? It changes colors or something?" She had decided she was going to be very open-minded while she was here. She had seen some pretty incredible things - things that a few months ago she would have called impossible. 

"No. It talks. It calls out the house once it has read what is in the student's mind." Dumbledore smiled again. "It's amazingly accurate at deciding on each student's greatest strengths." 

"The hat . . . talks?" 

"Yes, and sings." Remus smiled at her as he said this. "It's quite interesting to see, really." 

Dumbledore spoke again. "The Sorting Hat has been used since the school was founded a thousand years ago. And, no, I wasn't a student then." His eyes twinkled brightly at her when he said this and Cassie was embarrassed to hear herself giggle in response. If she wanted to sound mature and sophisticated, giggling was definitely not allowed. His face got serious, then, as though both of them had remembered at the same moment the circumstances that had brought her here. "I presume you have your wand?" 

"Yes," Cassie answered. She pulled her wand out of the pocket of her robe where she had slipped it and showed it to him. "Is it okay?" 

"It's perfect. I'm sure Remus has already told you, but you must keep your wand with you at all times." Cassie nodded. Her head was spinning with exhaustion and strain. She wondered if this was a dream she would wake up from. The warmth of the room was making her feel very tired but she thought they would think she was rude if she sat in a chair uninvited. She felt herself almost sway on her feet, though, and she looked longingly at the chairs that she knew from prior experience were extremely comfortable. Dumbledore stopped talking to Remus and glanced at her. "Why don't you sit down for a moment. We have a few minutes before the others arrive. Then we'll talk about your dorm assignment, your class schedule, and the extenuating circumstances surrounding your arrival in the middle of the year. But, for now, why don't you relax? I imagine you are fairly nervous." She nodded and sank gratefully into one of the soft chairs, picking the one on the side of the room where she had sat while she, Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny all waited for the battle to begin. It felt welcoming, in a way. 

Dumbledore and Remus turned to each other, talking in low voices. Cassie couldn't hear what they were saying although she was sure that they were talking about her. Her eyelids felt very heavy, and she wondered vaguely if they would be upset if she just closed them for a minute and slept. The low rumble of the two men's voices was soothing and she found herself drifting off, with sleep hovering near. However, it stubbornly refused to overtake her, and instead she found herself contemplating the strange circumstances that had brought her back to Hogwarts. 

Her return home from Hogwarts that summer day five months ago was as quick as it had been to Hogwarts with Harry, Ron, and Hermione the day before. Remus Lupin and Arthur Weasley had accompanied her and it had been Mr. Weasley that had picked her up off the sidewalk after they landed. They had landed in a park about two blocks from her house and had walked quickly to the familiar white house which Cassie had thought never looked so welcoming. She had fumbled quickly for her key and all three of them had slipped inside after looking around quickly outside. 

"Do you think I'm safe here? Could they . . . would they follow me here?" Cassie remembered very clearly that it was Ron and Hermione's use of the portkey that had brought the Death Eaters down on the four of them at Harry's house. 

"Well, there's no reason to suspect that they would. After all, the battle they were all worried about is over, and their ranks have certainly been thinned. All of us, Dumbledore included, feel that you will be perfectly safe here. But that is why we did not arrive in your house, although it would have been easier." Remus patted her gently on the shoulder. "Don't worry. Dumbledore is very smart. If he thinks you're safe, you're safe." 

"Okay." She smiled bravely at the two men, but somehow the anxious butterflies in her stomach did not quiet. They had stayed with her for almost two hours, making sure that no one had followed the portkey and helping her calm down. Cassie also suspected that Mr. Weasley stayed longer than necessary because he was enjoying looking around her house so much. He had poked his head into almost every cupboard and room, but Cassie couldn't bring herself to ask him to stop. He had unplugged clocks, turned on the coffee maker (without a pot underneath it), run water out of faucets and even given himself a nasty shock when he had poked a knife into an electric socket. He had talked at quite some length about his plug and battery collections and Cassie had made him very happy when she had given him a size D battery out of an electric torch. He had been very curious about her father's collection of miniature cars and her brothers' remote control airplanes. Cassie had laughed along with Remus at his childlike enthusiasm. 

Finally, Remus had insisted they needed to leave and Cassie had watched with (despite herself) some surprise as the two of them disapparated out of her living room. 

And then, she had been alone. And the house was very quiet. It took her quite a while to get things back into shape where Mr. Weasley had made a mess but then the house was clean and she had nothing to do. She looked with apathy at the to-do list her mother had left her several days before. She could remember laughing with Harry at some of the items on it. Now she couldn't have cared less about any of them. There were quite a few still unchecked and she imagined her mother would be mad at her. She didn't care about that either. 

The rest of the day passed excruciatingly slowly. Cassie tried watching the television but had no interest. She tried reading but couldn't concentrate. Instead, she found herself roaming from one room to another and looking out the window more often than necessary. Several times she took the pictures out of her pocket and marveled each time at how they moved, showing her riding on a broomstick and petting real unicorns. Every so often Cassie would think about Harry and the others and wonder what they were doing at that moment and replayed in her mind the things she had seen and done. And, her thoughts would again turn to the four friends in particular. At one point Cassie laughed to herself that Harry and Ginny were probably snogging somewhere like the Astronomy Tower while Hermione and Ron were arguing about something in the common room. She was frustrated with herself when her laughter turned to tears. 

Cassie knew logically that Harry was better off with Ginny. She genuinely liked Ginny and knew she would take care of Harry. Even so, it didn't make the loneliness any easier to deal with. The emptiness and pain she felt inside gnawed at her. "It was for the best. You know it was," she kept saying to herself. After all, how could she have a relationship with a bloody wizard? For heaven's sake, how could they ever really be together? He was magical and she . . . wasn't. But it still hurt horribly. 

At dinner time she thought of fixing something and settled on some toast and juice. Even this meager fare triggered memories of Harry and Hogwarts as she thought of iced pumpkin juice and elf-supplied toast. After dinner, she washed up a little and stared at the television schedule for a while, trying to settle on something to watch. She thought about a video but that made her think about Harry. She turned on the radio but every song seemed to be about lost love and she finally gave up. The phone rang about 9 and Cassie jumped a mile at the sudden intrusion of noise into the quiet house. Her heart rate was incredibly fast as she walked to the receiver. Maybe it was Harry . . . No, she knew he didn't have access to a phone. 

"Oh, Mum!" She was grateful to hear her mother's voice, comforting and loving, even when her mum was actually hundreds of miles away. 

"Are you okay, Cassie? I tried to call you last night, but you never answered." 

"I'm sorry. I hope you didn't worry. I, I went to sleep early and guess I didn't wake up." Cassie suddenly realized exactly how hard it was going to be keeping this secret from her family. She hoped that after a little time had passed, it wouldn't be so bad. 

"So . . . how are you doing? Harry and his friends got away okay?" 

Cassie was silent for a long moment. "Yes. They got away . . ." and suddenly is was just too much and her voice broke, and despite all her efforts to get control of herself, she started to sob. She cried for a long time and her mum didn't say anything, just let her cry. Cassie was grateful. There was nothing her mum could say to make it better and she was glad she didn't try.

"I'm sorry, Cassie. I know how much you liked him."

"I did, Mum, I really did." 

"Is there any reason that has to stop? I mean, you can write him, can't you?" 

Cassie smiled wryly to herself. "Not really, mum. It's kind of complicated." She kicked herself mentally. She sounded like Harry. "Maybe I can explain more later." 

"Well, all right. We're coming home tomorrow night, you know." 

"Yeah. I know. I'm looking forward to seeing all of you, even Matthew and John." 

"They miss you, too. They'll never say it, but they do. Did you want to talk to your dad?"

"Um, no. Are his feelings going to be hurt if I don't?"

"No. I'll just tell him . . . you were on your way to bed."

"Okay. I just . . . I'll just start crying again." 

"Are you going to be okay? Do you want to call a friend or something? Maybe you shouldn't stay home alone." Cassie thought about that. She hadn't even considered calling one of her girlfriends from school to keep her company. It was a little late to be inviting someone over, but in the summer, it would be all right. 

"That's a good idea, mum, but I think I'll be okay. I'm perfectly safe here." 

"Well, it wasn't your safety I was worried about, Cassie. I thought maybe you and a friend could eat ice cream and cry about boyfriends." Cassie laughed in response, mentally kicking herself again for bringing up the safety issue. She was scared, it's true, but her mother didn't have any concern about dark wizards showing up on their doorstep and Cassie didn't intend to enlighten her about the possibility. 

"Yeah. That does sound fun. Maybe I will." She had no intention of doing so. She knew she wouldn't be good company, but her mum didn't need to know that. They talked for a few more moments about nothing in particular and then her mother hung up and Cassie hung up and she stared for a long time at the phone. Maybe she would have called someone but she couldn't remember anyone's phone number and she didn't have the energy to find one. 

Bedtime was met with mixed reactions from Cassie. She hoped for release from the melancholy, but was afraid to turn out the lights and go to bed. Three times she checked the doors and windows to make sure they were locked. Not that a locked door would do anything to protect her, but it was the best she could do. She took a hot bubble bath to try to relax and found herself jumping at every little sound both in and out of the house. Finally, after dressing in her pyjamas and once again looking down the hall for any sign of intruders, Cassie crawled into her bed and, for the first time since she was a little girl, she slept with the lights on.

Cassie had a dream where at first she had been flying, first with Harry and then on her own broom. She, Harry and Ginny had chased each other, laughing and enjoying the freedom of being up in the sky. However, near the end of the dream the skies had turned dark and they had been engulfed by red, purple, and green streaks from wands of Death Eaters. She awoke to the sound of screams of pain, agony and fear and realized after a moment that some of the screams were her own and she was sweating. Her face was wet with tears she didn't know she had cried and she laid in bed for a very long time staring at the ceiling before she fell asleep again. 

The next morning, she woke up feeling like her head was stuffed full of cotton batting and she went through the day mechanically, trying to get a few items crossed off the list but her memory was bad and she found herself making stupid mistakes at things she had done a million times before. She left the hose running in the front yard and made a big mess of her mother's flowerbeds. She picked at her food for breakfast and lunch. She was going to start dinner so her mum wouldn't have to worry about it later but forgot to turn on the slow cooker until it was too late. She checked outside the window probably 100 times if not more and whenever someone walked by she didn't recognize, she stared at them for a long time until they had moved past without looking at her. She wasn't sure she would recognize a dark wizard if they happened to show up at her house - well, as long as they walked up and didn't just pop out of nowhere - but she figured if they pulled a wand out, she could at least duck. 

Her family arrived home about 5:30 that evening, and the noise and chaos of unpacking, hearing the details of the trip, looking at souvenirs, etc., did a lot to make Cassie feel better. By the time bedtime rolled around again, she thought that maybe she was over whatever irrational fears and thoughts had occupied her mind for the past 24 hours. However, when she once again found herself sleeping with her light on and her face wet she realized that maybe it was going to take a little longer than she hoped. 

Her mum kept shooting her concerned looks the next day even though Cassie tried her best to act natural. She still jumped every time a door slammed or if there was a loud noise. She kept telling herself she needed to get a grip on reality. Then, just when she thought she had calmed herself down, one of the boys would come screaming through the house and she would feel herself tense up again. Her mum kept asking her what was bothering her, but Cassie just mumbled vague platitudes about Harry and plastered fake smiles on her face. Cassie knew her mum was not fooled for a minute but she just didn't feel up to talking about things. Especially since she didn't have a clue what to actually say. She kept reminding herself that she had chosen to remember these things and that since she had been safe this long, she didn't have to be so concerned. She just knew that Harry wouldn't have sent her back home if she was really in danger. 

By the next morning, she actually did feel a little better. She had still slept with the light on but had not had any nightmares. She hoped that her fear of one of the Death Eaters coming after her or her family would fade in time and she could just remember the good things she had seen while she was at Hogwarts. 

She was eating breakfast that morning when something interesting happened that showed her just how much her life had changed. There was a tap at the window next to her. First she jumped and then she looked out carefully. There was a huge white owl, sitting on the window sill, looking as though it was waiting to be let in. Cassie remembered Harry had mentioned something about an owl, but she was still a little hesitant to let the large bird into her mother's kitchen. Not that she had any choice. As soon as she opened the window, thinking that she would just take the letter she could see tied to the owl's leg, the owl hopped right inside like it had every right to do so. She was very nervous about actually touching it. She didn't really fancy having her hand ripped to shreds by the very vicious looking beak the owl was clicking. After a moment, though, she laughed. The owl stuck its leg out at a 90 degree angle, almost looking like it was waiting for her to remove the letter. She very slowly reached over and pulled on the string that tied the note to the scaly leg. As soon as the letter fell into her hand, the owl hopped away from her and started picking at her breakfast. Cassie grimaced. That couldn't be very sanitary. "I do hope your housebroken, at least. I really don't want to be cleaning up owl droppings." She was amazed as the owl turned its big eyes to her and actually looked disgusted. "Uh, you don't really understand me, do you?" The owl turned away, looking (although Cassie couldn't believe it) insulted and clicked its beak a few more times. Cassie unrolled the piece of parchment and read what Harry had sent her. 

  
  


Dear Cassie, Hi. This is Hedwig. She's nice and won't hurt you. Please give her something to eat and a little water to drink. How are you? I hope you're doing okay. We're all doing fine. School is officially over but this year I don't have to go to my aunt and uncle's house. I actually am going to stay with Ron. Please write back. Hedwig will know where to find me.Harry

  
  


Cassie read and then re-read the short letter. Harry seemed to be happy and she was glad about that. She then found a saucer and put water in it for Hedwig. She was perplexed over what to give her to eat. Hedwig continued to nibble at Cassie's corn flakes. She didn't seem too excited with the food offering and Cassie wasn't too pleased with an owl eating from her cereal bowl. She found a pen and some paper and tried to write a short note back. But after several failed attempts, Cassie gave up. How could she tell Harry of her continuing nightmares of the battle, her loneliness after breaking up with him, and her feelings of jealousy about Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron being together. Besides, her mum could come into the kitchen at any moment and Cassie did not want to try to explain why there was a rather large bird of prey sitting on the kitchen counter.

After tentatively patting Hedwig on the head and sending her out the window without a return letter, Cassie poured the remainder of the cereal down the drain and quickly cleaned up the dishes. She had just finished when her mother walked in Cassie tried to smile at her, but she was pretty sure her smile looked more like a grimace. Her mother again gave her a concerned look and asked her to sit down at the kitchen table.

"Cassie, I'm worried about you. Every time I ask, you say you're fine. But I don't think you are. Look, I know you're sad about breaking up with Harry. But do you really have to break up? If it's just because he's in Scotland, you can still write each other. You can even call. I'm sure he'll be back to London some . . ."

"It's not that easy, mum." Cassie broke in. "You see, Harry has another girlfriend and . . ."

"He what? Do you mean he was dating you and kissing you and he had another girl in Scotland the whole time?"

"No mum, it isn't like that." Cassie belatedly realized the hole in which she had so quickly and unwittingly dug herself. She had wanted to make the conversation short in order to save herself from unwanted pain and to make sure she wouldn't say anything she shouldn't. Instead, she had made Harry sound like some kind of heartless cad. "When Harry came to London, he thought it was all completely over with Ginny, uh, the girlfriend. That's why he thought it was okay to kiss me. Then when his friends, Hermione and Ron, came to get him, they told him how much Ginny had missed him and how much she wanted them to be together. Harry and I talked and, the more we talked, the more he realized he still cares about her. We both agreed she was best for him. And, she really is a nice girl."

"How do you know she's nice? She didn't come to pick up Harry, did she?"

Oh no, Cassie thought to herself. I'm making this worse. I never was a good liar. "Uh, well, no, of course not. But from what I heard the three of them say about her, she seems like a very nice girl."

"Well, okay. I can understand your being upset about that. But, I think there's more than just the breakup bothering you. It seems more to me like you're frightened about something. For one thing, you slept with the lights on again last night. What's wrong, Cassie?"

"Uh, nothing mum, really. I . . . I just wanted the light on because I was . . . uh, missing Harry . . . and I couldn't sleep, so I was reading and then I sort of fell asleep and . . . well, I just never got up to turn it off."

"So that's your explanation? You're going to stick with that?"

"Uh, yeah. I think I will."

Her mother shook her head in frustration and Cassie, sensing an opportunity to get out, announced she was going for a walk to get some fresh air and help clear her head. A moment later, Cassie slipped out the door and started walking, trying to relax in the warmth of the afternoon. After a little while, she realized that she had headed out of habit toward Harry's old house. She thought about turning around or stopping somewhere else, but she was curious whether she could see it or not now and so she kept walking, smiling to herself as she thought about the fun times that she and Harry had had as they had often walked this way. 

Cassie was actually beginning to feel better by the time she arrived at the street on which Harry had lived. Her new-found contentment evaporated quickly at the sight before her eyes. There in the middle of the block were the crumbling, burned-out remains of a building. Cassie's heart skipped several beats and she felt nauseated as she stood there open-mouthed and staring. It was Harry's place. She could recognize the stairs. That was all, though, that remained. There were a couple of women standing nearby, visiting and looking now and then at the ruins. Cassie walked hesitantly up to them. "Wha . . .what happened?" She had a feeling she knew but she hoped that maybe it had just been something normal, something like a bomb or a freak tornado or something. That's what it looked like, the devastation was so total. 

The younger of the two women looked thrilled at being able to gossip about an old subject to a new listener. "Well, of course, no one is really sure. It just suddenly blew up . . . Four days ago. The firefighters think it was a gas leak or something." Cassie's heart sank. Four nights ago they had taken the portkey and left the house to the kind sympathies of the Death Eaters. She was very grateful she had not been left standing there by herself.

"What time? I mean, what time of day?" She may as well know the worst of it.

"Right at dinner. I was just sitting down to my soup when suddenly it felt like a nuclear blast had . . ." Cassie tuned the woman out. It had only been a few minutes after they left, she imagined. Maybe as long as an hour. No longer. She blinked and was amazed that she felt tears in her eyes. It was just a stupid house. And it wasn't very attractive either. But she and Harry had been there together. They had kissed there. They had talked about . . . everything. He had told her his biggest secret, taken her in his confidence. And that made the little house special to her. Cassie smiled automatically and thanked the woman as she wound down her recitation of the facts, real and imagined, that pertained to the excitement. 

Cassie walked away a few minutes later, staring back at the wreckage. She was sort of surprised that she wasn't more amazed at the destruction. She had seen what magic curses could do to living human beings and creatures. An unprotected house would pose no problem at all. Her house would pose no problem at all and her parents and brothers would not even be able to put up a good fight against anyone who could do this. Cassie practically ran home, panting with relief and exhaustion as she raced up her porch 10 minutes later. Her mum looked up in surprise as Cassie slammed the door behind her, leaning against it and wishing that she had the magical locks that had been on Harry's house. At least then she would feel a little safer. She gave her mum a shaky smile. "You all right, Cassie? You look upset."

"I'm . . . I'm okay. I just . . . uh, just glad to be home." That sounded really lame and her mum raised an eyebrow, undoubtedly agreeing with her. Cassie pulled herself away from the door and went into her room. She honestly didn't know how Harry could stand the complete tension, the feeling that any second someone could step out from behind a corner and try to kill him. She was amazed that he had been brave enough to go with her places. Of course, she thought, he could at least defend himself. She remembered the numerous times his hands had crept up under his shirt to grip what she now knew was his wand. She - along with her family - was completely defenseless. She tried to calm herself down by looking at her pictures again. There were a lot of good wizards. In fact, she had a feeling that most of them were really good, with just a few of the dark ones running around causing havoc. And a very powerful one, Professor Dumbledore, knew about her and her situation. He would make sure they were all right. And Harry. Harry wouldn't just abandon her - not if he thought they had anything to be worried about.

Over the next two days, her mother kept asking her what was wrong and Cassie thought quite a bit about what sort of an excuse she could come up with to explain her behavior, but there really wasn't one that would sound reasonable. So she just kept insisting that it was stress over the breakup. She didn't think anyone believed her but they didn't try to pressure her too much. Cassie was grateful for that. 

That afternoon, she heard from Harry again. Hedwig arrived, sitting outside her bedroom window, another parchment tied to her leg. Cassie seriously considered ignoring the big owl but decided that was rather cruel to the bird who was undoubtedly thirsty and tired. She hesitantly opened the window, hoping that her mum would leave her alone for a few more minutes and that neither of her brothers, who were outside playing with friends, had noticed the owl being admitted. Cassie was braver this time with the large bird, reaching for the parchment immediately, rather than waiting for Hedwig to hold out her leg. She unrolled it, quite nervous about what it said. 

  
  


Dear Cassie, I didn't get a return note from you. Maybe Hedwig just didn't wait for you to tie your letter on. She gets rather impatient. By the way, please feed her a little toast. Whatever you gave her last time didn't make her very happy. I had to really bribe her to go back to your house. Please write back. I want to know how you are doing. I am fine. We are having a good time together. Harry

  
  


Cassie looked at the owl and scowled. "He had to bribe you to come back? You were eating out of my bowl! You're lucky you got anything at all." The owl just looked serenely at her and preened herself, quite comfortable apparently, on Cassie's desk. Cassie slipped out of her room and quickly went to the kitchen. She was just about to take her toast and water back to her room when her mother walked in. 

"Lunch will be in just a few minutes."

"I know, mum, but . . ."

"You know you're not allowed to eat in your room."

"I know, but . . . .Just this once? I promise, I won't make a mess." 

"It's not . . . ." Her mother bit her lip. "All right. At least you're eating something. I guess I'd be stupid to complain." 

Cassie fed and watered the bird but she didn't even try to write a note back to Harry. She didn't have anything to say. The bird looked a bit perturbed as Cassie tried to shoo her out the window but she finally was convinced to leave and Cassie watched with a pang as she soared over the neighbor's roof and disappeared from view. She hoped Harry wouldn't write back. Maybe she should have been brave enough to tell him that. It just hurt worse to think about him. She needed to just put him out of her mind. 

Three more days passed with no word from Harry and Cassie hoped that he gotten the message, well, lack of message, really. She was sitting in the family room that afternoon, watching a television program. It was stupid, but at least it was something to do. When she first heard the knock, she ignored it. Then it came again, firmer, and she had a sudden flashback to angry pounding on Harry's front door and she decided she didn't really didn't want to answer at all. Who knew who could be outside? She was alone at home at the moment and there was no one else to answer the door so after a few moments and another louder set of rapping, Cassie finally decided she would have to. She took a deep breath and stepped into the hall. She put her hand on the doorknob and turned. 

Her eyes widened at the sight that greeted her. He was as thin as ever and looked slightly tired, but he was smiling. "Hi, Cassie. I was, what's the expression, in the neighborhood." 

Cassie smiled back, quite surprised at the warm feeling of familiarity that he engendered. "Hi, Remus." 


	3. A Wolf at the Door

Chapter 3

A Wolf at the Door

"So, can I come in?" Remus asked after a moment. 

"Um, yeah. My mum's not home but maybe that's for the best." 

"Mmmm." Remus didn't say anything more and Cassie suddenly realized that his arrival when she was alone in the house was not just a coincidence. 

"Oh, you knew that, didn't you?" Remus just smiled at her and Cassie opened the door. "It's good to see you." 

"You, too, Cassie. We've been worried about you." Cassie didn't respond and Remus continued. "Harry said he has owled you twice and both times Hedwig came back without a reply. Did you get his letters?" 

"Yes." Cassie could feel her face flush under Remus' intense gaze. "I did want to write him back . . . but I couldn't think of anything to say." 

"I see."

Cassie and Remus sat quietly for a moment. She was terribly embarrassed people felt like she had to be checked on and they had to go to all the trouble to come and see her. She wondered for a minute if he was here for some other purpose and then a horrible thought crossed her mind. "Are you here for some other reason?" 

"What do you mean?" 

"Did they send you to . . . finish . . . the job?" Remus drew his eyebrows together and looked at her with genuine confusion. 

"Finish the job? I don't understand what you mean." 

Cassie debated whether she should even say it. Maybe it would be best just to change the subject. But she wanted to know. She had a right to know. "To do the memory thing. You know, to make me forget Harry and everything." 

"Ah. Well, I could. If you wished. But that's not why I came." Cassie thought for a long time and Remus didn't interrupt her. He just sat there quietly as she contemplated her options. It seemed tempting, somehow, much more now than it had in the office several days ago. She thought longingly of the release she would experience if her memory were erased. She wouldn't have to worry about dark wizards anymore because she wouldn't remember that there was such a thing. And she wouldn't have to feel lonely for Harry or (even a little) jealous of Ginny because she would never remember they even existed. But she had meant all those things she had written that morning and she hadn't changed her mind about any of it. Of course, she hadn't realized at that time how terribly vulnerable she would feel away from the school. 

She turned to look at Remus. "Do you really honestly believe I'm safe here . . . that my family is safe? I've been so frightened . . . . ." 

"I don't think that fear is unreasonable, considering the things you saw." A shadow passed over his face. "I wish that somehow your introduction to our world could have been a little . . . less dramatic." 

"If it had been less dramatic, I never would have been introduced to your world, Remus." A faint smile was his response to that. 

"To answer your question, Cassie, I'll just tell you that we have been keeping close tabs on the Death Eaters and Voldemort, as we always have done. There has been no sign that they have any interest in you or even this part of London. As far as we can tell, they are not even aware of your existence. Harry did a good job of protecting you while you were here with him and at Hogwarts. There is absolutely no reason to be frightened. I realize that this will not instantly make your worries vanish, but I hope you will at least try to . . . adjust." 

"I'll try. I really will." Surprisingly enough, Cassie really did feel better. She trusted him enough and Harry enough to know that he would not just abandon her to Voldemort's gang. He would make sure she was safe - not for love necessarily but because he would feel like she was his responsibility. At the thought of Harry, Cassie asked, "How are Harry and the others doing? Are they, um, upset about things?" Cassie didn't really want to come right out and ask if they were having as hard of a time as she was, but she wondered, all the same.

Remus seemed to understand what she was not asking. "Well, Harry, Ron, and Hermione have been through several confrontations with Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Unfortunately, they have been through enough of these that, while I'm sure it affects them, it isn't to the degree it's bothered you." Cassie wasn't sure whether to feel sorry for them, or jealous of their peace of mind. 

"I'm glad you came by, Remus. Talking to you has really helped. Was that honestly the only thing you stopped by for?" 

"Well, basically. I thought you might have a bit of a hard time adjusting to "normal" life again. Your whole world view has shifted and it must be sort of hard to go back." She nodded in agreement. 

"It's been harder than I thought. Everything looks different to me, now. Do you know the movie The Wizard of Oz?" 

"Yes. It's . . . well, portrayal of witches is sort of an amusing . . . Never mind." 

"I never thought of that." Cassie was pretty embarrassed that she had brought that up. It wasn't that part of the movie she had been thinking about. "Sorry. I just, I was thinking that I was kind of like Dorothy. I was dropped into a new colorful place where everything was different and then I came home to boring old Kansas again. But I wasn't really ready to leave, yet. Not like she was." She stood and walked over to the window, staring out at the street where she had lived her entire life. 

"Hmm. Not a bad analogy. But don't get too caught up in it. You have a whole life to live, Cassie. And it's going to have to be lived here. And that's not a bad thing." She didn't answer him. He was right, of course. "Hey, I brought you a present." 

Cassie wiped at her eyes before she turned around to face him again. "A present?" 

"Yes. Here." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the biggest bar of chocolate Cassie had ever seen. 

"Chocolate?" She studied the label. It looked normal enough, not like it was going to explode or anything, although she didn't recognize the brand. "I normally don't get to eat a lot of chocolate. My mum would have a fit if she saw this." 

"Well, you can tell her it is strictly medicinal. Go ahead and have some. It's very good." Cassie felt it would have been rude to decline since he had brought her the present so she opened one side of the wrapper, broke off a fairly small piece and put it into her mouth.

"It's fantastic. The best I've ever had." She was amazed at the warmth and contentment that seemed to fill her as she nibbled at the chocolate in her hand. "Is this magical?"

"Isn't all chocolate?" Remus smiled as she broke off another piece, offering some to him. "No, thank you. I get enough of it. Now, I want you to eat some when you're feeling particularly depressed or upset. It'll make you feel better." 

"So, it really is like medicine?"

"Yes, it is. But it's nice to take, isn't it?"

Cassie smiled as she broke off another piece and popped it into her mouth. Cassie heard the scrape of a key in the lock and the front door opened, admitting her mother and brothers. Her mother looked extremely shocked to see someone in the house she had never met and Cassie hurried to make the introductions, silently being thankful Remus had dressed in Muggle clothing for this visit. "Mum, this is Remus Lupin. He's a friend of Harry's. Well, a little more than a friend. He's sort of his guardian now, right?" Her eyes flitted to Remus for a minute for confirmation and he smiled warmly at her mother. "And, Remus, this is my mother, Rebecca Robinson." 

"Mrs. Robinson. It's such a pleasure to meet you." They shook hands briefly, her mother still looking a little disconcerted at his sudden presence. "I'm sorry that I dropped by without calling or anything. I was here in town on a business matter and Harry asked me to bring something by for Cassie." He indicated the chocolate which confused her as she had gotten the impression it came from him but then he caught her eye and winked and she realized that it didn't matter. 

Cassie's mum didn't look too thrilled at the huge bar of chocolate now sitting on the couch but she was too polite to say anything. "It was a great pleasure to meet Harry. Be sure to give him our best." Cassie was momentarily surprised at the rather formal tone her mother had used. Did she somehow dislike Remus or something? She wouldn't be that upset over the chocolate. Then Cassie remembered. She had told her about Harry getting together again with Ginny. Her mum probably interpreted "his gift" as an attempt to string her along. Cassie would have to discuss this with her later, but obviously in front of company was not the time or place. 

"I must be going. I've got an appointment soon." Remus shook Cassie's mum's hand again and then Cassie's. "It's good to see you. I'll be sure to tell Harry that you're doing better." 

"Okay. Tell him that I hope he has a wonderful summer. And that he needs to stay safe."

"I'll tell him." 

"Will you come again?" Cassie's mother gave her a funny look and appeared to be fighting not to say something.

"Most likely. I get here to London quite often on business and I would love to come by again. Bring you more chocolate." Cassie laughed at that. She couldn't imagine eating all of that he had already brought in a year. "Now remember to eat that chocolate when you need a little cheering up. It'll do wonders." 

"Uh, yeah, I will. And come anytime." And then he left and Cassie's mother was still standing looking very unhappy in the middle of the living room. "What's wrong, mum? You seem mad." 

"I am mad, Cassie. I come home to find an older man who I don't know and whom you have never met before sitting in my house! How do you even know that he really knows Harry? Maybe he was just lying to you! Maybe he wants to hurt you or something. . . I mean, you're very vulnerable right now, I know, and someone could take advantage . . . ." Cassie could tell she was really winding up and getting herself into a frenzy. 

"Mum . . . mum! Stop. You're over-reacting. He is not trying to do anything to me except check on me. Harry was worried. And he does know Harry."

"How do you know that? Even if Harry mentioned him to you that doesn't mean this man is . . ."

"Mum! Listen to me. Okay. I've met him before. With Harry."

"What? How . . . when . . .?"

"It's a long story. You're not going to be very happy with me, I'm afraid." Cassie sat down on the couch and started fooling with the decorative tassels on a throw pillow. "Something bad did happen to Harry and me when we were here alone. I didn't tell you because I . . . didn't want to frighten you." Her mother had gone very pale at this and Cassie realized the next few minutes were going to be very difficult. She would sanitize this as much as possible. 

"Harry had told me a while back that he was here in London because he was in hiding. Sort of like that Witness Protection program. Some bad people are trying to kill him." Her mother nodded numbly and Cassie bit her lip. She didn't have to mention the magic if she was careful. "Anyway, when his friends came, these bad guys followed them and found Harry. And I just . . . well, I was at his house that afternoon. It was just bad luck, I guess." Her mum nodded again. "We had to hurry and leave immediately to take him back to school and he was worried that if he left me there, they would find me and hurt me." 

"What sort of people are these, that would chase a boy?" 

"They're criminals, mum. They don't care about his age. Anyway, so I . . . flew back to his school with them. I had to." 

"You flew to Scotland? And you didn't tell me!" Her mother sounded fairly incredulous at this. 

"I couldn't tell you. You . . .it was a matter of life and death." Her mother paled again and Cassie decided that was probably enough of the story for now. Maybe later she could tell her more. "Anyway, I did meet Ginny and also Remus and some of his other friends. And then, well, he had to stay and they brought me back home and . . . that's really all there was to it. It's just that . . . ."

"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" Her mother's voice was calm now and Cassie dared to glance at her. She was looking thoughtful, but not angry. 

"I was afraid you'd get mad at me for . . . going." She was about to say breaking the rules. But she remembered she had glossed over the part about the sleeping at Harry's house (in his arms, no less) quite effectively and if she mentioned rule-breaking now, her mother would be suspicious. 

"I'm not thrilled Cassie, but I like to think I'm a reasonable person. Harry did the right thing, taking you. Now, what's this chocolate? Her mother took a small nibble and groaned in pleasure as it melted on her tongue. "Ooh, that's fantastic! The best chocolate ever." 

"Have some. Remus said that it is medicinal." Her mother snorted in laughter but Cassie noticed that she broke herself off a fairly large chunk of the huge bar, taking it with her when she went into the kitchen a few minutes later. 

Remus came again a about a week later. This time Cassie's mother answered the door which made her quite nervous. However, her mother was friendly with him and Cassie was very relieved. After a few minutes of small talk, she left the two of them alone and Cassie relaxed. At least she didn't have to watch every word she said now. Remus had brought more chocolate, and Cassie blushed as she admitted that most of the original bar was gone. Remus had smiled at that announcement and Cassie thought he looked worse than she had seen him before. She asked him if he was ill, but he sidestepped the issue effectively and it wasn't until they were partway through their conversation that it suddenly clicked. The full moon would be in just a few more nights. She wanted to ask him about his being a werewolf but remembered Harry had told her that in confidence and she couldn't. Cassie told him about how things were going for her and she also told him honestly that now the terror was gone and she could relax, she was actually glad to know about magic. "I look around sometimes, wishing I could see a witch or a wizard. They do dress a little differently, I'm sure you know. But I never see them." She even explained how she had once been tempted to go to the British Museum and ask for the Alfred Gottshawks fellow, but figured that he probably wouldn't be listed in their employee directory. Remus had laughed himself silly over the story and how Harry had said his name was Seamus and how Cassie had dismissed (she had blushed when she actually had to admit this) his comments because he was just some poor old nutter in a dress. 

"I'm trying to get back to my normal life. I went shopping with a friend the other day, but all she could talk about was boys and clothes and music. And I was bored. So I came home early and I think she was pretty mad at me." 

"Well, when you're 16 that's all you're supposed to think about, Cassie. Speaking of boys, are you going to start dating again?" Cassie had blushed bright red. 

"I never really dated before, I mean, Harry was kind of the first boy that I . . ."

"I see. But now that you know it's kind of fun, are you going to?" 

"Remus, honestly! I don't think it really matters to you, does it?"

She noticed Remus blush a little but his expression was calm. "Only because Harry worries about you."

"Oh." Somehow that was even more embarrassing. She could imagine Harry, Dumbledore and Remus and other people she didn't even know sitting around an office discussing her dating life (or lack thereof) and decided she had to put an end to this immediately. "Actually, I have a date next week. A friend from school called and asked me to a movie and I'm going to go and have a good time. So you can just tell Harry and whoever else is paying attention to keep their nose out of my business!" It was unfortunately during this last sentence, which Cassie was practically yelling, that her mother walked into the living room. She respected their privacy but did like to check on them periodically. 

"Cassie, what are you screaming about? You're going to scare Mr. Lupin away." Cassie suddenly felt horribly guilty. It was obvious the man was sick and here she was yelling at him just for asking about her dating life. It wasn't his fault that not every boy she met had piercing green eyes, was it? 

"Sorry, Remus. I didn't mean to blow my top." She really was embarrassed. It wasn't normal for her to get so upset.

"Understandable. I'm sorry if I offended you by asking. Just so you know, it is not a topic of discussion at business meetings." 

"Oh. I'm really sorry. You can tell Harry I, I'm doing better." They visited for a few more minutes and then Remus got ready to leave. Cassie's mother rejoined them to say goodbye. Reumus shook Cassie's hand and her mum's, thanking her for allowing him to come. He also handed her a large bar of chocolate which, to Cassie's surprise, she did not turn down. In fact, she grinned guiltily and told him how good the chocolate was. It wasn't until after dinner that night, when both Cassie and her mum were doing the dishes that her mum brought up the subject of Remus' visit. 

"Cassie, I want to talk to you about something serious for a minute." Her tone of voice was solemn and Cassie felt her stomach do a little flip-flop. Whatever it was, it didn't sound good. 

"I had a dentist appointment with Matthew today, as you know." 

"Uh-huh. He's been fussing about it for days." 

"Well, while I was waiting for them to finish up, I was thumbing through an old magazine and an article caught my eye. It was discussing some symptoms of a mental condition. The symptoms include moodiness, fright, easy boredom, jumpiness, over-reacting to certain stimulants, startling easily, and some others." 

Cassie felt her stomach flip-flop again. Her mother was obviously making a point with this. It was not just pleasant conversation. "Yeah?" 

"All those symptoms sounded kind of familiar to me. They are a pretty good description of your behavior since we got back from France. These are symptoms of something people get if they've been through a stressful experience like a war or something. Or if their lives were threatened. So, I started thinking. I decided there was probably more to the 'Went to Scotland, saw Harry's friends, came home' scenario that you initially laid out for me. Am I right?" 

Cassie stared at her mum for a minute, trying to decide what she should say. But the look on her mum's face was her undoing. And suddenly, Cassie started crying - like she had on the phone - and she didn't stop for a long time. Her mum held her in her arms and rocked her and Cassie thought that it had been a very long time since she had done that. Finally, when she could find her voice again, Cassie started talking.

"I couldn't tell you before. I didn't know how to start." Her mum just made little agreement noises and Cassie tried to organize her thoughts enough that she could tell her a little but not too much. "When we got to Scotland, well, Harry had to go back right away because the bad guys were going to kill him and he was hoping that he and all his friends together could get rid of them." 

"That's a nice way of saying kill them, I imagine." 

"Well, yeah, or put them in prison." Cassie wasn't exactly sure how you put a wizard in prison but she remembered quite distinctly that Remus had referred to the captured Death Eaters as prisoners so she assumed that meant they had some way to do it. 

"So . . . If I'm understanding you correctly, Harry went back with his friends and took you with him and then there was some sort of . . . what? A fight? Why didn't they call the police or something?" 

"They did have police there but not enough, I don't think. And anyway, they still were fighting even with the police. So there was a big fight. Harry called it a battle." Her mum raised an eyebrow and Cassie wondered what she was thinking but she was too frightened to ask. "Anyway, he didn't want me anywhere near it, you know. He was afraid I'd get hurt." 

"So they had a big gun fight or what exactly?" 

Cassie didn't answer right away, unsure of exactly what to say. "They weren't fighting with guns. I've never seen weapons like that before. I couldn't really explain . . . ." She ignored her mother's surprised expression, hoping that maybe her mum would just think she hadn't paid that much attention. "Anyway, he wanted me to hide in an office or a cupboard but I didn't want to. I wanted to . . . watch. I wanted to make sure he was okay and that Ron and Hermione and Ginny were all okay, too." Cassie started crying again, remembering how terrible it had all been and the noise and the screaming and the terror. Her mum just waited patiently for her to stop. "Lots of people died, Mum. Most of them were bad guys. But I realized that bad guys die just the same as the good ones. Once they're dead, you can't really tell the difference. Anyway, I didn't think it would bother me that much, afterward I mean. I was glad those people died. They were trying to hurt Harry and the others. But then I got home and . . . it just seemed wrong somehow. That I would be happy and paying attention to stupid stuff when, oh, I don't know." They sat for a long time without saying anything more. Finally, her mum patted her on the shoulder. 

"I don't really understand exactly what happened because I can't imagine any adult letting children fight under any circumstances. And, I can't imagine Harry in a big fight trying to kill people. He seemed so nice and quiet. But I believe you saw something that really upset you. I wish you had told me about this a long time ago. Maybe you should go see someone or something." 

Cassie looked at her mother. "You mean a . . . psychiatrist? You think I'm nutters?" 

"I never said that. I don't think you're nutters. I think you just need to . . ." Her mum was interrupted at that moment by the noisy arrival of her brothers, who came running in asking for a snack. Cassie was grateful for their interruption for once in her life and seized the opportunity to leave the living room. 

The subject was not raised again and Cassie thought that was probably because somehow the conversation with her mother had made her feel much better and between the relief of that secret being (sort of) out of the closet and Remus' chocolate, she really did feel a lot more like her old self. So she thought that maybe her mum was less concerned now than she had been a few days ago. 

It was a little less than a week later when Cassie's mum called her downstairs and she went into the living room to find not only Remus Lupin but also Arthur Weasley sitting on her couch. She silently noted how ill Remus looked even now that the full moon had passed. She thought that whatever it took to be a werewolf, it must be pretty nasty. He looked terrible. After exchanging a few pleasantries, Cassie's mum left her alone with the two men. As soon as she was sure her mum was out of earshot. Cassie swallowed hard and nervously looked at Remus.

"I have to confess something, Remus. I, uh . . .well, I had to tell my mum about what happened when I went to Hogwarts. She kind of guessed some and I . . . well, I couldn't really not tell her, you know what I mean?"

Both men got concerned looks on their faces. Remus quietly asked, "What exactly did you tell your mum, Cassie?"

"I didn't say anything about Harry or the rest of you being wizards. I told her about the battle. I just left out the use of magic, brooms, giants and all of the other stuff. She kind of thinks it was a gunfight. I'm sorry. I really am. I shouldn't have told her anything. It's just that . . ."

Remus relaxed and smiled. "It's all right, Cassie. I think you did the right thing."

"Absolutely, Cassie." Arthur agreed

Cassie felt less nervous after that and they had a pleasant visit. However, it was obvious the men were in a hurry and, after a few minutes, Remus told Cassie they had business in the city centre. They all stood up and Cassie began to thank them for stopping by. She mentioned how much she had appreciated the chocolate Remus had brought. "Now if I could just figure out how to get a hold of some pumpkin juice. It was so good when I had it at Hogwarts."

Arthur got a smile on his face. "Well, why don't you come with us to Diagon Alley? You could pick up some fresh pumpkin juice. My sons, Fred and George, have a store there. You could visit with them while Remus and I went to our, uh, meeting. And then we could take you to get some."

Cassie noticed a surprised expression on Remus' face at Arthur's invitation. The thought of visiting this wizarding place she had heard so much about appealed to her. However, the timing was lousy. Tonight was the night of the date she had mentioned to Remus at his last visit. She figured it had to just be a coincidence as she had never even told him the day, but it was annoying anyway. "I'd really love to go. It sounds great, but I've got this date later . . . and I need to be home in time." 

"Oh, no problem. It's only 1:00 now. We should only be a few hours." Remus looked rather exasperated at Arthur and Cassie realized that he didn't really want her to come. After being assured they would only be a few hours and would be taking the tube rather than a portkey, Cassie enthusiastically said she would ask her mum. She felt kind of bad going against what Remus so obviously wanted, but the lure of Diagon Alley was too strong. 

Cassie's mother was fairly hesitant about her going off with the two men and Cassie shifted rather uncomfortably. She felt nothing but a daughterly affection for the two older men but it was obvious that her mother was thinking there may be more than that to this. It was very embarrassing and Cassie hoped that neither of them picked up on it. 

"We'll be taking her to my sons' shop. They're friends of Harry's and I think she would enjoy seeing that part of town. She said she's never been there before." 

"What kind of a shop is it?" 

"Well, they own a joke shop."

Cassie's mother raised an eyebrow. "Oh, well, that's uh, nice."

Arthur grinned sheepishly. "Yes, well, my wife, Molly, isn't too impressed either. But, they are doing well for themselves. And they're happy." Cassie thought about pulling out the business card from her secret stash of photographs and things but then thought about the name of their store. She seemed to remember it said something about magic or wizards or something. So she decided not to open that subject for discussion.

"Well, I'm sure it's a nice shop. Cassie, I guess it'll be fine if you go. Just be home in time for dinner and remember you have a date with Brian tonight."

Cassie blushed with embarrassment. She would rather not have her dating life discussed in front of Harry's friends. Of course, Remus would be happy, thinking that this meant she was re-joining her regular life. And sure enough, she gave a sideways glance at Remus and noticed a small smile on his face as the three trooped out the front door.


	4. Diagon Alley

Author's Note: I have borrowed two items for Fred and George to carry in their shop from other talented writers: The first is the face-freezing spray which Lady deMimsy mentioned in her story "Intruder, Counselor, Guardian, Heir" in Mugglenet.com's Library. The second is the Dragon Kisses that are found in a story by that name by a wonderfully talented author by the name of Davesmom who writes for this site. The candies are not really used in context here, but do fit in wonderfully with the whole idea of their store. All the other items are either mentioned in the books or are made up by me. Hope you all enjoy this chapter. 

  
  


Chapter 4

Diagon Alley

The journey to Diagon Alley was quick, given the three took the old-fashioned Muggle transportation of the Underground. They didn't speak much. Cassie wanted to ask all sorts of questions about what they were going to see there but was a little nervous to do so. She imagined that they didn't want to be overheard. However, there was one question that she just had to ask and she didn't want to wait. "Remus?"

"Yes?"

"Are you mad I'm coming with you? Because you kind of looked like you might be. And if you are, I don't have to come. I can get off at the next exit and go home." 

"I'm not mad, Cassie."

She could sense a but at the end of the sentence. After a minute, she asked for it. "But . . . what?" 

He glanced at her. His eyes were kind and he had a sort of funny expression on his face. "But my purpose in coming to visit you, aside from just checking to see how you were doing, was to make sure that you were adjusting to the separation from our world; you know, adjusting to your own world again. And you were doing fairly well. And now, we're dragging you back into it. It just seems counterproductive." 

"Oh."

"Arthur is a great wizard and I trust him implicitly, have trusted him with my life on many occasions. He just gets a little over-enthusiastic about Muggles sometimes. Forgets there needs to be a separation." 

"Do you want me to get off the tube and go home?" 

"No. I don't think that one afternoon's visit to wizarding shops is going to do a whole lot to damage you." He sounded like he might laugh so Cassie didn't argue with him. She just sat silently for the rest of the trip, afraid he might change his mind. She wasn't sure what to expect at the end of the ride but it certainly wasn't what actually happened. They got off the tube at a regular stop and stepped up onto a perfectly regular street. They walked along quietly and no one looked at them strangely or anything. Cassie kept her eyes open for the pub that she thought they were walking toward but, despite careful attention, she missed the doorway completely and would have walked past it except Remus grabbed her arm and steered her inside. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust to the dim interior lighting after the bright street but when she finally could make out the shapes in the smoky gloom, she almost wished she could close her eyes again. The scene that met her eyes reminded her forcefully of Hermione's comment about "interesting individuals" patronizing the tavern. In a corner of the pub were two older women in black robes and witches hats; both smoking long-stemmed pipes and drinking from mugs of ale. At another table was a man in long green robes with a large glass of some bubbly, fizzing concoction. Resting against the bar, and enjoying various types of drinks as they visited with the balding, toothless old bartender, were several other men in as interesting dress as the others.

Arthur and Remus nodded at several people as they walked through the bar and out the back door into a small, walled courtyard. It was very dingy back there and Cassie thought she heard the scrabbling of a rat behind a waste bin. She moved closer to Arthur and wondered if this entire trip was a big mistake. But she watched as Remus tapped a few bricks in the solid brick wall and they rearranged themselves into a doorway -- one that opened onto Diagon Alley. As it did so, Cassie gave a slight gasp in excitement at the sight that lay before them. It reminded her in some ways of pictures she had seen of London 150 years ago. The shops were small and crowded together, looking like a good stiff breeze would knock them all over. The street was cobblestones and there was not a motorized vehicle in sight. The people, dressed in a wide variety of brightly colored clothing, were walking, sometimes jostling each other, as shopkeepers called out their wares. 

Cassie tried to pay close attention as this was probably going to be her only chance to see this wonderful place. She remembered another thing Hermione had said about her first visit to Diagon Alley, and that was that it was a very impressive place and it could convince the most hardened sceptic to believe in magic. The shops all looked very interesting and Cassie wished she had days to explore. There were stores selling cauldrons, stores selling owls, wands, robes, etc. She even saw a shop that sold Quidditch supplies and she just wanted to run in really quickly and take a look at the flying brooms, but she was being escorted at a fairly rapid pace and decided she didn't want to ask. Neither Arthur nor Remus said anything as they walked, although they nodded at several people who spoke to them. She suspected they were nervous about her and she had a sudden feeling of guilt at the trouble she was putting them through. But then, they passed a quaint looking ice cream shop and she saw a newer-looking store front ahead of them with a bright purple sign announcing Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and Arthur, ginning broadly, directed them into his sons' shop. 

As they opened the door and entered the shop, Cassie heard a loud voice announcing "Customers! Welcome to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes! You will always leave laughing!" Cassie looked around, surprised, to see who was talking, but then realized it was probably an enchantment. The voice sounded very much how she remembered the voice on their business card when it had yelled at her when she had touched it for the first time. One of the twins stepped out from the back and smiled happily at Remus and his father. 

"Dad! Remus! What brings you to our . . ." His voice trailed off and Cassie felt his eyes on her. She had been staring around at the various merchandise, absolutely amazed. The store had looked small and rickety from the street, but inside it held a lot more than she ever would have guessed possible. She turned and met his eyes. 

"Hi, again." 

"Oh, have you two met?" Arthur was looking a little surprised at this. 

"Yeah, Dad. At Hogwarts." 

"Oh, of course, of course. I didn't realize, but it makes sense. Where's George?"

"He's in the back. What can we help you with?" Cassie wondered if he thought she was strange or suspicious looking, but he flashed a bright smile at her and held out his hand. "Fred Weasley, in case you've forgotten." 

"Thanks. Cassie Robinson." Before she could say anything more, George came in from "the back" and introductions were made. She was amazed again at how identical they looked. No wonder even family members had a hard time telling them apart. Her hand was engulfed in both twins' larger ones in turn and then Arthur and Remus were gone with a vague instruction to "keep her entertained, would you two? We'll be back soon." Cassie was a little nervous about what she was going to talk to them about, but she decided quickly that she didn't need to worry. The shop was very busy, and both boys were basically running around collecting merchandise, making suggestions, and working the till so they didn't have time to even look at her, much less talk. She watched them work and listened to them talk about their various products and was quite surprised at the level of effort they put into each customer. She soon realized that they had a definite way of approaching each sale and it must have worked because the entire time she was there she never saw a customer leave without at least buying something. 

The customer would come in and one of the boys would approach them to find out what they wanted. She realized that there were different levels of jokes, ranging from fairly amusing to downright mean. Each customer had specific ideas for who they wanted to play them on and what sort of reaction they wanted. Once that was decided, the customer was guided to the section of the store that was appropriate. If necessary, the twins would even demonstrate the specific product. Cassie soon stopped jumping at sudden noises, explosions, or appendages appearing suddenly on one of the boys. She didn't know what sort of magic was behind all of their tricks, but she was fairly impressed at their business acumen. There were samples of some of their candies in shallow bowls throughout the store and a couple of times, she was tempted to reach for a particularly yummy looking nibble. She resisted, however, remembering what Harry had said about not wanting to eat anything the twins gave you. The sample plate on the front counter, however, was very hard for Cassie to resist. She kept looking at the chocolates, wondering what exactly they did when you ate them. Finally, one of the boys had a quiet moment and was leaning against the counter quite close to where she was. She was fairly sure it was George. 

"George?" He turned his head to look at her and Cassie was pleased that she had been right. "What do these do if you eat them?" He smiled wickedly and raised one eyebrow.

"Try one and find out."

"Harry said never to eat anything you gave me."

"Harry's a stick in the mud. It won't hurt you. Come on. Give 'em a try." There was a distinctly teasing note in his voice and she bit her lip, very tempted to show him that she wasn't afraid. She picked up a piece from the plate and looked it over carefully. It looked like a normal filled chocolate, but the name "Dragon Kisses" sounded a little scary. "Cassie, Cassie, Cassie. You'll never know till you try it." 

She threw a glare in his direction and popped the entire sweet into her mouth. Her first thought was that she had been worried over nothing. It was good chocolate. Then she felt the burning. Sudden heat flooded her mouth, the hottest cinnamon she had ever tasted melded with the sweetness of the chocolate and she opened her mouth to gasp. That was when she realized that she should have listened to Harry. When oxygen hit her mouth, a small flame erupted and she could see it coming out on her breath. She wanted to scream in fright but didn't want to take a chance of hurting herself more. She wasn't on fire, she had the presence of mind to think, it was just a trick, but she was unsure what to do. George was laughing at the expression on her face. "Close your mouth and the fire goes out." She did but then the cinnamon was too intense and she could feel tears gathering in her eyes. When she opened her mouth again to ask for some water, the flame erupted once more. George took pity on her then, apparently, because he waved his wand lazily and there was a glass of water suddenly at her elbow. She drank it quickly, dousing the flame and the cinnamon-flavored burning immediately. He was laughing as she finished the water and glared at him. 

"That was . . . incredible. But how was I supposed to get the fire out?" 

"It only lights three times. Then it just goes out by itself." Cassie wanted to chew him out for daring her to eat one of the things but another customer came in and he sauntered over to help. Cassie decided right then that she was going to heed Harry's advice and not eat anything else in the store. She looked around at some of the merchandise, wondering what the various things did. She looked for a long time at a section of fireworks, wondering whether she dared buy anything for her brother. He would get a kick out of them, she was sure, but she didn't want to have to explain anything too far away from the norm. There were several different types of fireworks from what she could tell and several different sized packages to buy them in. She looked down at the price though and realized she couldn't buy anything. She had brought money, but she didn't have anything like galleons, sickles, and knuts. She thought about asking Fred and George for an equivalent price in pounds sterling, but she never had a chance. She would have wanted to ask them privately, and there was never a moment when it was just the three of them in the store before Remus and Arthur returned. 

They came in smiling and Cassie was torn between relief at seeing them or sadness that her adventure in Diagon Alley was close to ending. Arthur held up a bag. "Cassie, we bought your pumpkin juice for you. Thought it would be easier that way." 

"Dad, we had pumpkin juice we could have sold her." It was Fred and he had a funny smirk on his face. Arthur scowled in response and Cassie wondered what that was about. She found out quickly, though. 

"Well, next time she wants to drink your pumpkin juice and have her head turn into an actual pumpkin, I'll make sure to send her your direction." Fred laughed and Cassie knew instantly that Arthur hadn't been being sarcastic. Arthur looked down at his watch. "It's four o'clock. Cassie. We'll get you home in plenty of time for your date, then." 

She didn't know why but she felt suddenly self-conscious and she wished that he hadn't announced her plans for the evening in front of the twins. She felt their eyes on her and she flushed slightly. Neither of the older wizards noticed. "Come on, Cassie. Let's get going." It seemed just moments later that she was standing on the Underground again and then moments after that when she was standing on her front porch. Her head was whirling from everything she had seen and heard and the actual length of the trip seemed inconsequential. 

"Thank you so much, Remus, Arthur. That was the most fun I have had in a really long time."

"You're doing okay, then? Not too, um, . . ." Remus seemed hesitant to say the word moody and so Cassie just smiled. 

"I'm fine. Thanks again. Be sure to . . ." and then the front door opened and Cassie's mum looked out at them. 

"You're back. Come in, then." All three of them dutifully went inside. 

"Did you have fun, Cassie?" She nodded eagerly.

"It was great, Mum." She said goodbye with a bit of a heavy heart a few minutes later because she really thought that this was probably the last time she would see them. After all, Remus had come to see if she was adjusting all right, and she was. And then today they had come on business and taken her along to that wonderful place but the chances of her going back were practically nil. 

She was extremely surprised then, when almost three weeks later, her mother answered the door and found both Remus and Arthur standing on their porch. Cassie was back in her bedroom, looking for probably the hundredth time at the pictures she had brought with her from Hogwarts and remembering how much fun she had had that morning with Harry. So when she heard Remus' voice, she thought she was just imagining things. It wasn't until her mother knocked on her door and told her she had company that she realized it wasn't just wishful thinking. 

"Hi, Cassie." Remus looked quite ill and Cassie tried to remember if the full moon was coming or had just passed. But since she didn't regulate her life by the cycles of the moon, she didn't know and she didn't dare ask. 

"Hi. Is everything okay?" She was so surprised to see the two of them standing there that she had a sudden fear that something bad had happened. 

"Oh, everything's great. It's just that we're headed back, um, downtown for business and Arthur is certain that you would want a repeat visit." For a minute, Cassie thought she must have misheard. They would take her back to Diagon Alley? 

"Yes. I'd love it! I'd absolutely love it!" Cassie hesitated a moment, "As long as it's okay with you, Remus." He smiled patiently and nodded. She ran to ask her mum's permission and grab her purse. She also decided that she would ask Arthur and Remus about getting money in the currency that was used at the shop. Her mother wanted to talk to the two men and so Cassie had to stand there listening as they were questioned about what exactly Cassie would be doing while they were at their meeting. 

"Mum! Fred and George are very nice and very funny. And their store is very busy. It's not like I'm being abandoned or anything. You should see of the jokes they have . . . when I met them at school they were making . . . ." Cassie suddenly realized that she could not finish that sentence. There was no possible way to explain the racing roasted chickens. "Um, anyway. It's fun there and I can get something for Matthew's birthday." Her brother was turning 12 within the next week and she had been really struggling to find something he would like. She remembered the fireworks and wanted to see if she could afford any of them. Finally, just when she had given up hope, her mother said it was okay if she went as long as they were home by six. Cassie was embarrassed that her mother was so paranoid about things but when she started to apologize as they walked to the Underground station, Arthur cut her off. 

"Your mother is watching out for you, Cassie. It is her job and we aren't offended, neither of us. Truly, Molly is the same way, especially with Ginny," Arthur and Remus exchanged meaningful looks and Cassie suddenly remembered that Harry was staying at the Weasley's house this summer. With Ginny. And others, too, but it was probably Ginny he was spending most of the time with. She felt a now-familiar ache in the pit of her stomach and acknowledged it silently to herself. It wasn't as bad as it had been in the past. 

"How come you've never married, Remus?" Cassie asked. Remus laughed. 

"How do you know I haven't?" 

"Uh, well. Harry told me you hadn't. He said you were lonely now that Sirius . . ." Cassie didn't want to continue. It was tragic really. The whole thing. 

"I got very used to Sirius being gone, Cassie. Yes, I miss him but as for being lonely, well, I have things to keep me busy. Now, I haven't married because I haven't found a woman who is willing to put up with my rather nasty personality." Cassie laughed along with Arthur as they entered the underground station. Despite having been there before, Cassie's first sight of Diagon Alley was just as overwhelming as it had been the first time. It was a lot busier this time with a lot more youngish people, kids her age. 

"Hogwarts' new year starts fairly soon, Cassie. You may even see some Hogwarts students here." Arthur acted like that was wonderful but it made Cassie feel slightly nauseated. She wasn't exactly sure, why, but she remembered Harry telling her that no one could know she was a Muggle, that it was dangerous. She had explained to Remus about her need to get some money exchanged and after he and Arthur took her into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, Remus took her 20-pound note and agreed to go to the bank and have it exchanged into galleons for her. She wanted to come herself, but he told her in no uncertain terms that it would not be possible. Arthur argued with him a little bit, but finally gave in and kept Cassie company for a few minutes.. One of the twins, Fred, Cassie thought, had stuck his head out of the back when they had entered the store, but neither of them came out for the few minutes Arthur was visiting with her. She supposed that they were taking advantage of a lull in the steady flow of customers. When Remus returned, he pressed four large gold coins into her hands. "Four galleons." 

"But what about the, uh, silver coins and bronze coins?" She got a quick crash course on wizard money from Arthur and then they were gone and she was, once again, looking around the joke shop. The only differences were that this time she knew not to eat or drink anything and she had money. She was a customer. She decided that when she was ready to buy, she would insist they give her the same one-on-one treatment they gave to their regular clients. But for now, she just wanted to look around more carefully at what was available. The door announced another customer and one of the boys came out to help. He noted her presence and waved. Cassie smiled back and started investigating the shelves. 

She had noted on her last visit that the twins had rated their jokes on a scale that let prospective customers know how dangerous a joke was. This was done with wands - one wand meant the joke was mild and funny; seven wands meant it was suitable for your worst enemy. Although the boys certainly specialized in individual customer service, Cassie knew that there were always people that liked to browse by themselves. And on a day like today, the shop was busy, usually with more people than Fred and George could handle. Cassie had also noted that the shop, which appeared to be a mass of confusion and chaos, was actually laid out into "categories" of jokes, if you could call them that. There were food-based jokes, useful trinkets, sprays and lotions, things that exploded, a whole section devoted to the fireworks, some area called "school specialities," and animal pranks. She started looking in the food-based joke section but quickly decided these were not for her. She just could not imagine her family's reaction if Matthew suddenly turned bright blue or sprouted an elephant's trunk. She spotted a box of the "Dragon Kisses" on one shelf and quickly walked past. There were candies that made you fall in love, fall out of love (temporarily, the box assured the customer), drinks that made you speak in rhyme, or that caused smoke to come out of your ears. Along with the pumpkin juice Fred had mentioned on her last visit, there was grape juice that turned you purple, and biscuits that made you inflate like a balloon (temporarily, of course) but Cassie just couldn't see anything that would work for her. 

The useful trinket section featured something called extendable ears. To Cassie these looked like nothing more than pale pink strings and she decided against them. They were pretty pricey for what looked like a stupid idea. There were also eyeglasses that let you see what was behind you and enchanted quills that could copy anything from a neighbor. There was also a big display of fake wands. Cassie thought they looked very much like the few wands she had seen up to that point and thought they looked like a pretty good joke. Then there were shoelaces that refused to stay tied (useful for driving your enemies mad - and a great joke for Muggles, the paper said), as well as keys that shrunk away to nothing when placed in dark pockets. There was also parchment that wouldn't hold ink and quills that made a big mess when you used them. Cassie seriously considered the shoelaces but decided she'd come back later if nothing else was suitable. 

The sprays and lotions were, she decided, mainly for women as they seemed to primarily consist of colognes that either made you smell bad or smell really good to the wrong sort of creature. For example, there was "Feline Fantastique" cologne that guaranteed the wearer would be followed by every cat within a 5-mile radius. That one had six wands and Cassie thought they should have made it seven. There was a helpful face-freezing spray to scare parents into thinking "your face really did freeze that way," and a spray that could turn a solid material transparent for a few minutes (adults only). Cassie didn't even want to hazard a guess as to what that was used for. . Nothing was suitable for Matthew so she moved quickly on to an area she thought more appealing to his tastes. 

The things that exploded section basically consisted of a whole lot of normal-looking objects that when used just, um, well, exploded. There were parchments, quills, wands, letters, cauldrons, pipes, some foods like crisp packets or cupcakes, chess pieces, whistles, pillows, and (Cassie didn't look too closely at these), boxer shorts. Cassie looked long and hard at the exploding crisp packets and cupcakes. She thought that Matthew might get a kick out of those and they weren't so strange that Cassie couldn't have bought them at a Muggle joke shop. The price was right, too. For little more than a Galleon (she thought) she could get four or five really great exploding items. 

She also spent quite a long time looking at the fireworks, but most of the packaging did not make much sense to her. She could tell they were highly magical as one box promised that the firework could be charmed to spell out all sorts of rude words and a big selling point seemed to be that if these were hit by a vanishing spell, they multiplied. She decided that if she was going to get any of these, she would definitely need some guidance from the twins. Some of these looked fairly dangerous and there wasn't a box in the entire section she could find that was rated at less than four wands. 

The school specialties section seemed to be primarily aimed at Hogwarts students and Cassie chuckled to herself at the thought of what that school must have been like when Fred and George actually went there. These items were on sale and a further discount was promised if they were to be used against certain students and teachers. Cassie wondered about that, but decided not to ask. The main feature seemed to be something called "skiving snackboxes" which were rated only two wands. Cassie thought from reading the boxes that they should have been more like a five or six wand item, but maybe to wizards being forced to faint, throw up, have a horrible nosebleed, or run a very high fever was not terribly disgusting. There were also various quills and parchments for annoying professors or cheating on difficult exams. She should have moved on, she knew, because there was obviously nothing here that would be appropriate for a regular school, but a display caught her eye. It was a section of fake potions ingredients - "They look like the right ones but they don't act like 'em" the boxes proclaimed. She saw bat wings that exploded, dragon liver that smoked, asphodel that made potions catch fire, etc. She shook her head. That must be a really disgusting class. She couldn't imagine trying to deal with ingredients like bat wings or dragon liver. Yuck. 

Cassie moved quickly on to the animal pranks section where she knew there would be nothing she could buy for Matthew. However, curiosity about what the twins could possibly offer made her look at the boxes. There was fake owl feed that would make owls fly in circles or refuse to carry mail; potion to make cats grow to the size of lions or tigers; and a powder that, when put into a rat's food would charm the rat into being able to tap dance. Tap dancing or not, Cassie really didn't like the idea of being around a rat. She shuddered. It would be difficult to be a witch. 

She continued on with her inspection of the products until she came to a section that was kind of hidden in a corner so that she almost overlooked it. Cassie hesitated a moment as a sign prominently placed announced that the products were for people seventeen and older. The section was titled, "Ah, Sweet Revenge." The area was divided into two categories, Him and Her. Cassie looked at the Him section and the first item she saw was a potion for "cheating boyfriends or husbands." The potion promised to shrink certain appendages and would last up to twenty-four hours. Furthermore, the affects of the potion were guaranteed to withstand any counter-charm or re-growing charm for the time listed. Blushing, Cassie decided to not even investigate the other products. 

As she turned away, George sidled up next to her grinning. "So, have you found anything interesting? Have any guy you want to get revenge on?" Cassie's face turned a shade redder and she shook her head. "Speaking of guys, Cassie, how was your date?

Cassie stared at George in puzzlement for a moment and then remembered what he was talking about. She scowled at the memory of her date with Brian. She had been amazed when Brian had spent practically the whole date being extremely fresh with her. Needless to say, she had turned him down for a second date and had been very disappointed in the whole experience. "Ugh. It was horrible. He was all hands. I spent the whole night trying to fight him off."

"Too bad. The next time a guy tries something like that, you ought to put a hex on him. Ginny knows some good ones. Her bat bogey hex is great. We should get you two together and let her teach you how to do it."

Cassie fidgeted uncomfortably and was about to explain to George that she was Muggle when he was called away to help one of the customers trying to decide between the Canary Cremes and Dragon Kisses. Cassie continued to mill about the shop until Fred walked over.

"It's been really busy today. A lot of kids are getting ready to go back to Hogwarts. How about you; are you getting your things for school?"

"Uh, well, I don't really go to Hogwarts."

"Oh. I saw you there."

"Uh, yes . . . I was there as a guest of, well, because of the battle and . . ."

"Oh, I understand. Yeah, there were a lot of us there because of that."

George had taken advantage of a short lull in the flow of customers and joined the conversation. "So, where do you live?"

"Just a bit north of the city." He looked like he was going to ask more questions but Cassie was happy she had an excuse to change the subject. She didn't know why, but she felt a little self-conscious about telling the boys she was a Muggle. It was true their dad seemed to like her all right, but who knew what they would think of her. "Um, my brother is going to turn 12 this week or so and I wanted to buy him something. Do you have any suggestions?" 

Fred grinned kind of evilly. "Oh, yeah. Lots of suggestions. How badly do you hate him?"

"I don't hate him at all." 

"Too bad. So a quill that -"

Cassie interrupted quickly. "I was thinking of maybe some fireworks, nothing too dangerous, but I know he'd like some." 

A few minutes later, her head was spinning. She hadn't known that most of the fireworks sold in the store were Fred and George's own inventions and that there were so many different possible combinations. And they seemed to be willing to discuss each and every one. Fred thought he would be happiest with the fireworks that spelled out rude words, but Cassie turned him down firmly. They finally settled on some of the wet-start no heat fireworks the twins had perfected. Cassie thought that Matthew would really enjoy being able to surprise his friends and she also thought they were not so unusual that people would be suspicious about how she had gotten them. She had looked the box and packaging over very carefully, making sure nothing moved on it, before she finally got three galleons worth. She spent her last galleon on four exploding crisp packets, thinking she would use these as practical jokes some other time. George teased her by trying to put some Dragon Kisses into her bag as a "gift with purchase" but she took them out and said she wouldn't have anything they gave her to eat. He pretended to be insulted but she ignored his pouting. 

A couple moments later, before they could get too involved in asking her more questions, Arthur and Remus walked into the store and Remus announced that they needed to get her home right away. He looked a little askance at the bag Cassie had clutched in her hands, but he said nothing about her not being able to buy anything or wanting to know what it was she had bought, so she didn't volunteer the information. 

When they got to Cassie's house, her mum introduced Remus and Arthur to her dad, who had just barely arrived home from work. Cassie was a little nervous about how everyone would get along and she really did want to be able to have Arthur and Remus come by every once in a while, even if she couldn't go back to Diagon Alley with them. However, her fears were needless as very quickly the three men struck up a conversation. They got along great and even with Arthur asking a couple of peculiar questions about plugs which made Remus wince and Cassie suck in her breath, before dinner they were friends. Rebecca asked the two visitors to stay and eat dinner with them, but Remus said he had to be getting back and Arthur, although he looked longingly around the house, agreed. 

With that visit, then, a pattern was established. Every 2-3 weeks, Remus and Arthur would come and get Cassie and she would then spend a very enjoyable hour or two in Diagon Alley. Quite honestly, Cassie wasn't sure why she was allowed to continue to go to Diagon Alley when Remus had been so frank in his desire to help her separate herself completely from the Wizarding World. Once she had broached the subject with him and he had given her a patient smile and said simply that Arthur thought she should be allowed to come as long as she wanted to, and he didn't want to argue with him. 

After that, she didn't ask again because she really enjoyed the visits to Diagon Alley. She didn't always visit Fred and George's shop. One day, Remus even spent the whole time with her and they toured all the various places Cassie wanted to see. She also got to wander around on her own a little bit, although she never got very far out of sight of the twins' shop. She still hadn't told them she was a Muggle, but they were friendly toward her and she felt like if she was ever really threatened, she could run in there and be protected. 

August had given way to September and the visits continued. Furthermore, the friendship between Cassie's parents and Remus and Arthur had continued to grow. On one occasion, they even stayed for dinner and visiting. Cassie quietly wondered what her parents would say if they knew they were becoming friends with two wizards. She shuddered at the thought and hoped that would never happen. As is usually the case in such a situation, her fears would eventually have to be faced. 


	5. Telling Mum

Chapter 5

Telling Mum

During a visit to Diagon Alley in the middle of September, Cassie was once again visiting the twins' shop while Remus and Arthur were at a meeting. On the ride over, Cassie had tentatively asked Remus why he and Arthur went to so many meetings at Diagon Alley. Both of the men had exchanged glances to each other and Remus had nicely but firmly said it was confidential. Cassie had mentally kicked herself for prying into the men's business. She hoped this wouldn't make them want to stop bringing her. She had absolutely fallen in love with the entire street and the stores and just loved being in touch with the wizarding world. She was thinking so intently about her earlier mistake that she didn't hear George come up beside her until he touched her shoulder. 

"Cassie, you seem to be somewhere else today. Is everything okay?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. I was just kind of mentally chewing myself out for trying to pry into your dad's and Remus's business. I asked them why they had so many meetings here."

"Oh, it's just Order business."

"Order?" Cassie realized she had again made a mistake when George gave her a funny look and told her to never mind. He looked around the empty shop and back at her.

"It's pretty quiet here. How about going next door to Fortescue's and getting a drink?"

Cassie blushed a little and stammered, "Uh, I, I'm too young to drink."

George gave her another strange look and then his eyes danced as realization splashed across his face and he broke into a wide grin. "Just soda. That's okay, isn't it? I don't drink either. But you're remembering the Ogden's Fire Whiskey thing at Hogwarts?" Cassie nodded, turning a shade pinker. "Don't worry, Cassie. Fred and I were just pouring that stuff in our juice to give Ron a bad time. You know, make him jealous because we could drink it and he couldn't. That's what older brothers are for - to mess with their younger brother's mind and make him miserable. Fred and I take our responsibilities very seriously."

"Well, okay then. That sounds nice." George called to Fred that he was going out for a minute and Fred poked his head through the open door that led to the back room. 

"Have fun, then, you two. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and George laughed. 

They walked over to the ice cream shop. Cassie looked at the menu over the counter and didn't even know where to start. There were a lot of different options and none of them looked familiar. 

"What do you recommend?"

"Well, the drink Fred and I created is really good. Especially if you're feeling a little adventurous."

Cassie grinned at George in disbelief. "You're kidding. You didn't really create a drink, did you?"

"Sure did. Fred and I talked Florien into putting it onto the menu. It's very popular, we hear. It's called Terrible Twins' Tonic."

"I guess that you two are the Terrible Twins?" George nodded a little sheepishly. "That's not very nice. I don't think you two are terrible." 

"Just proves you need to get to know us a little better." George laughed. 

"Sure. I'll give it a try." All of a sudden Cassie remembered Harry's warning and her own experience with the Dragon Kisses. "Uh, what exactly goes in your drink?"

"Well, there's tonic water, grenadine, orange juice, pineapple sherbet balls and some other stuff."

"What other stuff exactly?"

  
  


"Ingredients to give it a little zing. But nothing that'll get you drunk or light your mouth on fire, I promise."

George ordered two Terrible Twins' Tonics when Cassie agreed that she would be willing to try one. They sat down at a little table while they waited for the drinks to be prepared. 

"So, how did you get the idea to start a joke shop?" 

"Fred and I were always coming up with some prank or another, even when we were pretty small. Someone once told us that we should harness all that creative genius and earn a living from it. That was when we were pretty young, but we took it to heart. We experimented with a lot of different things, but our mum was constantly getting after us to do something more productive with our life." George grimaced. "I think she wanted us to work in the Ministry or something. Could you really see either of us working at a desk?" Cassie shook her head. 

"No, that definitely isn't you. I think you'd rather blow up the desk!"

"Hey, you actually know us pretty well. Anyway, we had an anonymous backer give us enough money to get actual production started two years ago, and we rented the shop, and the rest, as they say, is history." Cassie tried to conceal her shock a moment later when she saw their drinks floating over to their table. George nonchalantly grabbed them as they landed and handed hers to her, making a big production of it. Cassie laughed but then she looked into the cup and got nervous. Hers was bubbling, and not little bubbles from carbonation, but big bubbles, like a volcano about to erupt. As she tentatively lifted the straw to her lips, there was a small explosion and a little firework exploded from the drink. She shrieked in surprise as some of it landed on her. 

"Speaking of blowing things up!" She wiped the stuff from her face and tried to force herself to glare at George. But he was wiping his own face and smiling triumphantly at her. 

"Like it?" 

"I haven't even tasted it yet!"

"Well, come on. Try it. It's just supposed to imitate our world-famous fireworks." Cassie laughed because another explosion went off in his glass and splattered blue fizz all over his chin. She took a short sip and found that it was really good and that it left a kind of tingling taste in her mouth as she drank it. 

"That's really good. It's not going to explode inside me, is it?" 

"Naw. That wouldn't be good." He stared at her for a minute. "That does give me a great idea, though. He grabbed a napkin and pulled a stubby little quill from his pants pocket. To her surprise, he started scrawling something on the napkin. He caught her staring and thought he knew the reason. "It's self-inking. Easier that way. I always spill my ink bottles." Actually Cassie was thinking that the little stubby quill was very funny looking, but she just nodded her head. After he finished, he folded the napkin and stuffed it back into his pocket along with the quill. "If that idea works out, I'll try to name it after you, okay?" 

She just laughed in response and took another sip of her drink. The next few minutes passed in pleasant conversation about some funny incidents in the joke shop and Cassie was laughing so hard at one point that she gave herself the hiccups which made George laugh and Cassie scowl. 

"Don't you know the charm that gets rid of hiccups?" 

"Um, no." Maybe now would be the best time to tell him that she was a Muggle, she thought, and opened her mouth to tell him, but then she hiccuped again and George grinned broadly at her. 

"Well, you should learn it. It's very helpful." He took his wand out of his pocket and waved it at her. "I keep getting you out of messes, little girl." 

  
  


"I'm not a little girl . . . it's just -" But she didn't get a chance to continue because someone came over to the table to talk to George at that point. She gathered from the conversation that this was Florien Fortescue himself and he was running a few ideas past George for some other wild concoctions. By the time they were done talking, Cassie had finished her drink and so the two of them got up. "Before we go in, George, I need to tell you . . ." But then Arthur popped his head out of the shop door.

"There you two are. Come on, Cassie, we've got to be going back. Remus has to hurry this afternoon." She just looked at George and he smiled back at her and went into the store. 

On the way home on the Underground, Cassie told both men about what she and George had talked about in the shop and about the drink. Arthur had apparently had it before and commented that it was really good. Remus hadn't had the chance to have it but laughingly said something to Arthur about any drink named in his honor would put hair (or at least fur) on a person's chest. Cassie pretended she hadn't heard. Before they said goodbye, Cassie apologized to Remus for prying into his business earlier by asking about their meetings. He merely shrugged. "It's all right to be curious. It's just that this war means I have to be very careful what I say and where I say it. You never know who might be listening." Cassie found it difficult to remember that there really was a war on because there was never any evidence of it in her day to day life. But she made a mental note to herself that she would be more careful in the future. She would have hated to make things more difficult for anyone she knew in the wizarding world. 

School was keeping Cassie really busy this year and she had to miss one visit completely because of a research paper she had to do. She knew that Harry and his friends were also busy with their classes and Remus had assured her that they were all doing well. Cassie thought she might hear from them at some point now that summer was over and they were back at Hogwarts. It was not with too much of a shock, then, that Cassie greeted an owl perched outside her window one afternoon in late September when she came home from school. It wasn't Hedwig, but she thought that maybe Harry used other owls periodically. When she pulled the parchment off the strange owl's leg, it flew away immediately and it was a shock when the writing on the outside of the roll of parchment was not Harry's. She opened the note with some trepidation, hoping it was not bad news from one of Harry's friends. She knew Harry was okay - she had seen Remus only a week before and he had assured her he would keep in touch with any major developments, but something else could have happened. 

However, the note was not from Hogwarts at all, but from Diagon Alley. Cassie was extremely surprised to see the signature at the bottom of the note. 

  
  


Dear Cassie, I know I saw you just last week at the shop, but I was hoping maybe you could come one day without my dad and Remus and just have the two of us hang out together. I was thinking that we could go get ice cream or another soda. You're a really nice girl and I'd like to get to know you better. You can owl me back or fire-talk if you agree. George Weasley

  
  


Cassie really wished the owl had stayed around. She didn't know exactly how to "owl" somebody, but she thought it seemed fairly straightforward. Of course, George still thought she was a witch and he had assumed she would have access to her own owl. She had no idea what he meant by fire-talking but she thought that didn't want to really know. Unfortunately, she didn't have any way to contact him now and she felt bad that she was just going to have to ignore the letter. The more she thought about it, though, the more she decided it was probably for the best. The last thing in the world she really needed was to get involved with another wizard. She needed to date a nice normal Muggle boy. She saw hundreds of them every day in school. It shouldn't be that tricky to find one who she could like. 

In fact, Cassie had made a conscious effort to be socially active over the next couple of weeks. However, her dating experiences were very disappointing. One date was with a very nice, but boring classmate, who hardly said two words to her the entire evening. Another date was a repeat of Brian as she had to spend the whole evening fighting him off. She had gone home very angry and had wished she was a witch so she could put that hex George had mentioned on her date. She thought fleetingly of Harry who had always been a gentleman. Her thoughts also turned to George and she found herself wondering if he would ever talk to her again since she had not owled him back. He must think she was terribly rude. 

It was October before Cassie was back in George and Fred's shop, smiling shyly at the older boy as he finished up with a customer. Arthur and Remus stayed for quite a few minutes this time, apparently it had taken them less time than they expected to get Diagon Alley. Cassie tried to act natural and relaxed even though her stomach was doing little back flips with nervousness. She wasn't sure how George would react toward her. Finally the two men left for their meeting. Arthur apologetically explained it was going to be an extra long meeting and asked both Fred and George to make sure Cassie was okay. After the two had left, George whispered something to Fred and then approached Cassie.

"So Cassie, are you talking to me?"

Cassie blushed and began to apologize. George cut her off mid-apology. "It's okay. I finally asked my dad about you when I hadn't heard back from you after a few days."

Cassie felt a sinking feeling in her stomach and wondered why George was even bothering to be so friendly with her now that he knew she was a Muggle. She summoned enough courage to find out what exactly Arthur had told him. "What did he say?" 

"Not much. He just explained that he didn't think you would have access to an owl to send a letter back to me. Next time, I'll have the owl wait for a return message. You know, you should try to get an owl. They're kind of expensive at first to buy, but those that just do local deliveries are reasonable and it's worth it. I don't know how you function without one." 

"Um, well. Yeah. I'll think about it." She mentally kicked herself for continuing the charade. She should just tell him the truth. She hated lying to him but then she thought about what he would think if she said it right now as she had just basically said she was a witch. Maybe it would be better to tell him at the end of the visit. Yeah, that is definitely what she would do. Then, if he never wanted to see her again he wouldn't be stuck trying to entertain her while he hated her. 

"What do you say we walk around a while? It's been a slow day and Fred has said he'll manage without me." Cassie felt a little queasy. Now was definitely the time to tell him but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. 

They spent the next hour walking around looking at some of the shops that Cassie thought were most interesting, especially the broomsticks. She must not have said anything that was too unexpected because George never looked at her and accused her of being an imposter or anything. He met lots of people he knew, and Cassie was impressed at how much everyone seemed to like him. She also noticed, however, that some people called him Fred or didn't call him anything at all, obviously unsure of which of the twins he was. Finally, the fifth or sixth time this happened, she asked him about it. "Don't they know you're George and not Fred?"

  
  


He looked at her kind of strangely. "No. It's hard to tell the difference. Even our own mother can't tell us apart most of the time." 

"You're kidding. You two aren't anything alike." 

"What?!" He stopped in the middle of the street and turned and stared at her. "What do you mean by that?" 

She looked at him bravely. He seemed upset at her comment. "Well, don't get offended. You do look a lot like each other. But you don't act alike at all. He's more . . . um, active. I mean, he has to be moving all the time. You stand still and think and . . . I don't know. It's hard to explain. But I can tell you apart easily." George shook his head and started down the street again. 

"You're mental. We are exactly alike." Cassie just smiled to herself. Apparently, it was important to him that he and his brother were identical in every way. But she would never confuse the two of them. 

Finally, they ended up at Fortescue's ice cream shop where George pointed out the ice cream flavors. "Get a cone or a sundae. All the ice cream here is really good, if you've never had it before." Cassie studied the flavors carefully. They were very unusual and she wasn't sure that they sounded all that good. She looked in vain for something like strawberry or vanilla but they were nowhere to be found. Finally, she settled on chocolate peanut butter raspberry swirl while George ordered something called Mango, Peach, and Pumpkin Sorbet. Cassie thought it looked fairly interesting, three different colors of orange all kind of swirled together. He said it was really good and she thought hers tasted a lot better than it sounded. They stood against the counter and ate their ice cream - Cassie watching the people come in and out of the shop and George watching her. Cassie felt his eyes on her several times and she kept wiping her mouth, wondering if she was making a mess of her face, but when she would look at him, he would just smile and keep eating his ice cream. Someone that George knew entered the shop after a few minutes and leaned against the counter next to him. They were talking about business of some kind and Cassie sort of tuned them out, looking through the windows at the various witches and wizards on the street and wondering what they would think if they knew she was a Muggle. Finally, the friend moved away and George turned back to her, just as he popped the last bit of his ice cream cone into his mouth. "How are you doing on your ice cream cone?"

She looked with dismay at his empty hands. "Oh, you finished yours. Darn. I really wanted to taste it, at least, although -" Before she could finish the sentence, he took hold of both her shoulders, pulled her to him, and kissed her on the mouth, hard. 

Her eyes opened wide as she tasted the ice cream on his mouth. And then she was away from him and he was standing there grinning at her. She felt herself blushing. "What did you think?" he asked and she knew it was meant to be vague, because he was asking about both the ice cream and the kissing. 

"It was good. I mean, the ice cream tasted good." Her color was high and she wanted to fan herself. The kissing had been good, too, but she really didn't want to say that. 

He grimaced slightly. "Oh. Yours tasted good, too." She blushed even more which she didn't think was possible. He was obviously embarrassed because his ears turned a little pink and he moved a little away from her. Darn it. She had said the wrong thing, now, but she didn't know how to fix it. He started to talk, "Um, sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have done that." 

"No. I mean. It was fine. I mean, oh. It's all right. I'm glad you kissed me, it's just that, well, I'm not really sure that you want to kiss me. I mean, if . . . " She let her voice kind of trail off. This was just too embarrassing for words. A minute later they left the shop and neither of them said anything as they went back into Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, which was absolutely packed with customers. 

Fred looked up, relief on his face. "It took you long enough. We've had a bit of a sudden rush." George left her standing there and started talking to the nearest customer, a red-faced man who looked extremely aggravated at being kept waiting. Cassie thought about volunteering to work the till. She had seen them do it enough that she thought she probably could, but her nerves kept her from trying. What if it required magic to work? What if it refused to open unless you did some sort of incantation or something? So, instead, she just tried to meld into the background and not say or do anything to draw attention to herself. While she stood there, she thought back to what had happened in the ice cream shop. She had, in her life, been kissed by exactly two boys. And they were both wizards. What was wrong with her? Did she have some sign on her that advertised for wizards to fall for her? Her other "dates" that she had from school never tried to kiss her or even really hold her hand. They just either treated her like their sisters or tried to get too friendly. But Harry had been, well . . . wonderful. He had been sweet and kind and very respectful. And he really knew how to kiss, although she suspected they had learned on each other. And George - he was also kind and funny and she suspected that he would really know how to kiss. He was older than she was by a few years and she imagined he had had more experience than Harry by far. The word "sweet" was not one she would use to describe him, though. But that was all right. He had other things going for him. 

By the time Arthur and Remus arrived, the rush had slowed down and George was able to come over and say goodbye. Cassie blushed a little and thanked George for the ice cream and everything. He grinned broadly in response and asked when he would see her again. Cassie explained that she never knew when she would get to come again. "Well, I'll send you and owl, okay? And this time, I'll tell it to wait for an answer." Cassie nodded shyly, unsure of what to do. Guilt twisted at her insides. She should tell him now, tell him that he should not be sending her owls because she was a Muggle but the thought of the look on his face, like she had somehow used him, stopped her. She glanced at Remus. He was looking concerned but didn't say anything. Cassie thought that if he was too upset he could have spit it out, told George and Fred and anyone else in the store that she was a Muggle and that he was never bringing her back to Diagon Alley again, but he didn't. 

Once the three of them were on the Underground and Arthur was occupied watching the various Muggles, Remus turned to Cassie. "It looked like you and George are getting to be pretty good friends." Cassie nodded, kind of embarrassed to admit it. "Have you told him? About yourself?" She shook her head, really embarrassed now. There was no reason why she should be so hesitant to tell George the truth, but she was. 

"I keep meaning to . . .but we just keep getting interrupted. And I don't know how, exactly. Will he hate me, do you think?" 

Remus laughed quietly. "I'm sure he won't hate you. He is his father's son, after all." They both watched Arthur for a few minutes as he watched the Muggles on the train. "But . . . I think you need to tell him soon. He has a right to know. If he fancies you." 

"Fancies me? I'm sure he doesn't. He just wants to keep me entertained. You and Arthur asked him to, remember?" Cassie stared at the window willing herself to keep the flush out of her cheeks. 

"Oh, really. Hm," She heard Remus say and she could also hear the laughter in his voice. "Is that really all?" 

Cassie decided she should just confess. After all, Remus probably knew already. "He bought me some ice cream and, well, he kissed me." 

"So he definitely does fancy you, then." Cassie nodded slowly. "Then tell him. You really don't have any choice in the matter. He's bound to figure it out by himself soon." 

"Will he be horribly surprised that a . . . Muggle has come to Diagon Alley?" 

"Oh, I wouldn't think so." Cassie must have looked very surprised because Remus again laughed. "There are several Muggles that are aware of our world, Cassie. You didn't think that you were the only one, did you?" She nodded slowly again, somehow sensing that she had been a bit conceited to think so. "Well, you're not. It's a small group, true, and there are not many who have come to learn of it as you did, but it's not that uncommon, really, for Muggles to be found in the Alley." 

"Oh." 

Remus smiled at her again and Cassie had a sudden overwhelming awareness of how tired and ill he looked. The reality of the fact that he was a soldier in a very nasty war sunk home at that moment and she felt heartsick. She ate dinner that night quietly, and her mother looked fairly concerned when she went to bed early, claiming a headache. 

Cassie went to bed that night with a lot on her mind. Perhaps the biggest question she had was how serious she really wanted to get with George. She felt that he would be a good friend, but he seemed to want to be more than that. Of course, that would change when she told him the truth. As she ate breakfast the next morning, she saw an owl fly up to her window and she opened it before it even had a chance to start tapping. The letter was from George, of course. She thought this was the same owl that had come before. "I can't do this here, go up to my bedroom, please!" She was worried that one of her little brothers may burst into the kitchen at any moment, she could hear them moving about in their room right now. To her absolute amazement, the bird flew back out the window and disappeared around the corner. She hurriedly rinsed her bowl and ran to her bedroom where the owl was standing patiently on the sill. She ushered the bird inside and reached for the parchment. The owl looked rather menacingly down at her hand and she froze, but after a minute she reached for the parchment again, quickly untying the string. The note was short but she smiled as she read it. 

  
  


Dear Cassie, Thanks for yesterday. I haven't had that much fun for quite a while. The ice cream was good but I actually liked kissing you better. When can I do it again? George

  
  


Cassie smiled to herself as she noticed the owl was waiting for a reply rather than immediately flying away. She grabbed a piece of paper off her desk and wrote a quick note, hoping that she could say everything she wanted without leading him on too much. 

  
  


Dear George, I had fun yesterday, too. The ice cream was really good. I truly don't know when I can come back to the shop. It depends on your dad and Remus. They never tell me in advance.

Cassie

  
  


She read the note a couple of times and finally scribbled a P.S. on the bottom.

  
  


I liked kissing you, too. C.R.

  
  


The next morning Cassie was surprised to find another owl pecking at her bedroom window. She had never had two owl posts in a row. But when she looked out, she saw that it wasn't George's owl. She wasn't sure whether to be disappointed or relieved. Cassie opened the window to Hedwig and took the note from Harry with mixed emotions. 

  
  


Dear Cassie, Hi. How are you doing? Remus keeps me up on what you're doing. I understand you like visiting the twins' shop in Diagon Alley. Don't eat anything they give you. I mean it. How's school? We're really busy here at Hogwarts. Ginny and Hermione say hi and hope you're doing well. Write me and let me know how things are going with you. Harry

  
  


Cassie smiled. His letter was much like himself. Very straightforward. She honestly did not know how he had done it -- kept her from finding out the truth in the three weeks they had known each other before the truth had actually come out. She quickly answered Harry's letter and was also able to sneak toast and water into the room for Hedwig. Cassie was surprised again when she had another owl post two days later. She was in the living room reading when she heard tapping at the kitchen window. It took her a couple of moments to realize the tapping was at the window and could be an owl. She rushed into the kitchen to see the now familiar owl from George. She opened the window to let the bird in, but he just stood stubbornly on the sill. She removed the roll of parchment and was surprised to have the owl take off immediately. Her stomach gave an unpleasant lurch. Maybe he had found out the truth and this letter was telling her that he never wanted to see her again. Her hands shook a little as she unrolled the parchment. 

  
  


Dear Cassie, I'm writing you this letter now so you can think about it and give me an answer when you come for your next visit to our shop. In a little under three weeks is Halloween. As you know, there are always lots of parties. If you're not going to any party with your family, I would like you to come to one with me. It should be really fun. It's at my friend Lee Jordan's house. Just tell me when you come, unless, of course, you've invested in an owl since we last talked. George

  
  


Cassie read and reread the letter. She sat at the kitchen table thinking about the letter and what she should do. This was really getting out of hand and she needed to put an end to it right away. If he was thinking of actually taking her to a party, with his friends, then he really wanted to date her. And she would be happy to date him if it weren't for the obvious problem. She sat there for a long time, thinking about the best way to let him know. The owl was gone so she had no hope of writing back to him to tell him that she had been lying to him all along. She looked up when her mother walked into the kitchen a few minutes later. 

"Cassie, you look upset. I something wrong?"

"No. Nothing's wrong . . . well, not too much. I mean, well, Okay, maybe something is wrong, but it's not much. Well, it might be . . ."

"Cassie you're not making much sense. What's the problem? You're going to need to explain it better than that." 

"Oh mum, I don't know how to even begin to tell you. I do have a problem and I guess it's a big problem. I got myself into a real mess. I didn't mean to, it just . . . it just happened."

Her mother had a worried look. "Cassie, whatever it is, we can work it out. No matter how bad you think the problem is. Does it . . . have to do with this past summer?"

  
  


"Well, kind of. But it doesn't have anything to do with Harry. Well, not too much."

"Cassie, you're still not making any sense to me. I'm sorry if I'm being stupid. Just tell me what's bothering you." 

"Well, there's something you don't know about Harry. And, now, there's George, and there's something I've been hiding from him and his brother, Fred. And they really deserve to know."

"Cassie, who are George and Fred and what don't I know about Harry?"

"Oh, George and Fred are Arthur's twin sons who own the joke shop. Remember, he mentioned them a couple of times? And, George likes me and I . . ."

"Hold it. George Weasley likes you? You mean, like romantically?" Cassie nodded fretfully. "Well, that's nice, I guess. I'd like to meet him, though. Wait. Is he done with school?" Cassie nodded again. "How long has he been done with school?" 

Cassie shrugged, distracted. "I don't really know." 

"So he could be several years older."

"He's not that much older than I am, he's 19. But that's the least of my problems. If he finds out what I am he'll probably not like me any more and, I don't know if I'll be happy or sad about that because I'm not sure if I really want to date another one of them. If it's even possible."

"You're making even less sense now than you did before. If he's 19, he's too old for you to date. Does he know you're still in high school?" 

"Mum, you've missed the whole point. That's not the problem."

"What point? And I would say that this is the problem, exactly. You're sixteen, Cassie. You don't know what you're getting into."

"Mum, his age doesn't matter. It's what I've been hiding from George that's the problem."

"Hiding? How could you have been hiding anything from him? You've barely met him, haven't you?" Suddenly, her mother smiled. "He knows Harry, doesn't he? Are you a little nervous about telling him how much you liked Harry? It's best to just be honest about these sorts of things right up front." 

"Mum, it's not my relationship with Harry. It's what Harry and George are and I'm not. I've been hiding it because I'm supposed to and now George and Fred think I'm one and it's going to be a mess when I have to explain. I should have a long time ago. . ."

"Cassie, for heaven's sake. Now you're babbling. What is this big secret?"

"They think I'm a witch!"

Cassie gasped as she realized what she had just said, her eyes got big and she put her hands to her mouth. Her mother looked at her with a puzzled expression. "What?" 

Cassie tried to rectify the situation. "Never mind. It's just a joke. You know, just kind of fun."

Her mother looked through narrowed eyes at her. "You're lying to me, now. I can always tell. What did you mean?" Cassie thought for a moment about how Remus had said that there were many Muggles that knew about wizards. She hoped that it was all right if her mother was one more. 

"Mum. Harry was, is, a wizard. A real wizard. He can do magic." Her mother got a very confused look on her face. "I don't mean magic tricks, either, Mum. I mean real magic. I saw it. And Ron is a wizard. And his whole family are wizards. There's a whole world out there, Mum. A whole magical wonderful world. And that's the problem. I'm not a part of it."

Cassie's mum sat quietly for a few minutes, finally shaking her head. "What sort of tricks did they do? How did they convince you about this." She tilted her head. "Did they give you something to drink or some sort of drug?" 

  
  


Cassie shook her head. "I wasn't dreaming, Mum. And I wasn't drunk or on drugs. I know you think I've gone mental, but it's true. Really." Her mother shook her head again. 

"It's impossible." 

"No. They can really do magic. They fly on brooms; in fact, Harry took me up on his broom when I was at Hogwarts. I loved it. I really love flying on a broom. It's almost as if I was . . ."

"Cassie! This is silly. There's no such thing as witches and wizards flying on brooms! It's not physically possible!" 

"Mum. I can prove I was flying. I have some pictures they took when I was there, at Harry's school." Cassie ran to her room and came back a moment later, clutching the precious photographs in her hand. She sat down next to her mother and handed her the pictures. Her mother looked carefully at each picture, her eyes wide with wonder. Cassie knew that it wasn't the pictures of her and Harry on the broom or those of Cassie petting the unicorns that convinced her mum because things like that could be faked. It was the fact that the small Cassie and Harry in the pictures were waving and smiling and that you could actually see the wind moving their hair as they flew and the unicorns pawing the ground and throwing their manes. 

After several long minutes of examining the pictures, her mum put them down on the kitchen table. "I think we need to talk more about this. Why don't you tell me the whole story?" So Cassie started at the beginning, with the knock on Harry's door that evening a little more than three months ago and told her everything, including what had happened in the ice cream shop on her last visit there. It took a very long time to tell, even with her mother not interrupting except occasionally when she said something that didn't really make sense. When she was done, she sat miserably in the chair, her legs drawn up under her chin. "So that's everything. And I guess I should have had them do that memory thing on me because now I've gone and done the thing they so desperately didn't want me to do, telling you. But maybe it's for the best. It's hard keeping a really big secret like that, you know?" 

Her mother nodded and studied Cassie for a long time. Cassie felt like squirming under her scrutiny but forced herself to meet her mother's gaze squarely. She had told the truth, only leaving out very limited parts, like the fact that Harry had held her all night on the couch (why get him into trouble) and the fact that Remus was a werewolf (that was his personal business and had nothing to do with the story). "Well," she finally said, as though she had finally come to a decision, "now it's not only your secret. It's my secret, too. And I'll keep it as long as you do." Cassie had a sudden rush of relief flow through her. "I'm glad you told me, Cassie. I do think you need to tell George about the fact that you aren't who he thinks you are. But I trust you will find a good way to do it." And then she ruffled Cassie's hair and left the kitchen. 

Cassie lay in bed that night imagining different ways to tell George that she was a Muggle and tell him that she understood if he didn't ever want to see her again. None of them were particularly pleasant but she knew she would feel better once he knew the truth. And she fell asleep smiling, remembering again that morning with the unicorns and thinking that no matter what happened, she would never regret knowing about magic. 


	6. Diagon Alley Again

Chapter 6

Diagon Alley Again

The next couple of weeks passed normally for Cassie. She never had any owls from Harry telling her that she had really messed up by telling her mum about magic and she never had a very angry Remus Lupin on the doorstep either yelling at her or performing a memory modification spell on her. Of course, she also didn't have any visits from Remus to take her to Diagon Alley and she felt bad about that. She had decided the next time she saw George she would definitely tell him the truth and she wanted to get it over with. She felt like such a liar - she had never lied but she had certainly lied by omitting a few pertinent facts. She remembered how she had yelled at Harry for doing the same thing and felt a twist of guilt in the region of her heart. 

So about three days before Halloween, Cassie was very relieved to wake up in the morning to the now familiar tapping on her bedroom window. She opened the window and the owl she could recognize as George's flew in and perched on her bedroom chair. She removed the roll of parchment from its leg and read the familiar writing, thinking with a pang that it might be the last time. 

Dear Cassie, I asked my dad last night if he and Remus were going to be bringing you to the shop again before Halloween and he said no. He said it might actually be quite a while as the man they had been meeting with has gone on a rather extended holiday. (I asked if that was a nice way of saying he was dead, but he assured me not.) I guess you probably won't be coming back to the shop with them until December or something. I'm sorry about that because I thought it was really great having you here. I thought maybe you could come on your own, but Dad said you couldn't. Is he wrong? I'd love to see you. By the way, Lee canceled his Halloween party because his parents are going to be in town after all. Too bad. He throws great parties. If you were planning to come, I could still come and get you. I'm sure we could find something to do that night. Diagon Alley is basically one big street festival on Halloween, as you probably know. Send a note back with Icharus if that sounds like fun. Love, George

Cassie read the note through several times. She felt bad that she wouldn't be going back to Diagon Alley for so long, but she really wasn't surprised. Things could not go on the way they were forever. And it was time that she accepted it. She thought with more than a twinge of sadness about how things would be when she could no longer go to Diagon Alley. However, her immediate problem was George. She considered confessing everything in the note she would return with his owl, but thought her news was probably something that was better told in person. But Halloween was definitely out. She could not imagine having George show up at her doorstep and then try to take her somewhere. She tried to imagine the look on her mum and dad's face as they just "popped" to some party. No. It wouldn't be happening, so she would have to tell him and it would be very awkward. She took out a piece of paper and wrote a note back. She decided it would just be easier if she told him yet one more small lie that she was busy that night. She wasn't. She couldn't remember ever really celebrating Halloween before in her life, but she didn't want to explain that to him. 

Dear George, I'm sorry that it will be so long before I see you again, also. I had a great time visiting your shop and visiting with you. I was going to have to turn down your invitation for Halloween anyway. I already had something planned, so I'm glad you won't be too disappointed. Please write me again. I love hearing from you. Love, Cassie

She quickly read over her note and thought it was completely inadequate. But it was the best she could do. She rolled it up and tied it on the leg of the owl which was still perched on her chair. A few minutes later the owl soared through her open window into the cold morning air, and Cassie stared a long time at it as it flew out of sight. 

That day at school, Cassie actually got asked out on another date by a boy in her English literature class. He was nice looking and Cassie had thought previously that he would be fun to get to know. He suggested a party that some kids from school were having, but Cassie declined. It didn't really sound like something she would enjoy. Instead, they were going to go to a movie. She thought maybe it would be good to go out with someone who was not a wizard and give him a real chance. After all, she better get used to it. 

The date went all right, she thought later. He hadn't tried to do anything rude or ignorant and he hadn't treated her like his sister. In fact, he had held her hand for a little while which was nice. Unfortunately, Cassie found herself all night comparing him to Harry and the fun evening they had had watching James Bond all those months ago and was relieved when he let her hand go and didn't try to take it again. At the end of the night, he moved toward her like he wanted to kiss her but she moved aside and pretended she hadn't noticed. She didn't want to kiss him. She kept thinking that he would be so much nicer-looking if he had dark red hair and an infectious grin. So she lay in bed later that night feeling very sorry for herself. She was kind of trapped between the two worlds, wanting to fit into the magical world but not being able to and not being able to settle back into the non-magical one either. She hoped she would eventually be able to reconcile herself to the fact that she was a Muggle and be happy with that again. 

That next Saturday, Cassie had no plans. The day stretched long and lonely in front of her and she paced back and forth in her room for a long while. She seriously considered taking the Underground to Diagon Alley. She felt fairly confident she could find the place and even though she didn't have a wand to tap the brick wall behind the pub, she thought that the bartender would probably open the wall for her. Hermione had said he would do that if someone asked him to. And she had a little wizard money left over from her last visit if that would help convince him to do the trick. She decided against it, though. She knew that her being able to go there had been an exception to a pretty hard and fast rule about crossing the line between the two worlds unnecessarily and didn't want to get anyone in any trouble with the wizard government. They didn't seem like the kind and sympathetic types from what few experiences she had heard about. That afternoon, she had another owl from George which kept her from getting totally depressed although what it said did nothing to exactly cheer her up, either. .

Dear Cassie, I'm sorry I haven't written sooner, but I suppose you know how busy we've been lately. I'm sure you read the article in the Prophet about Harry Potter once again fighting off the Dark Lord over Halloween. What is it about that day? I don't think the article mentioned that the whole Order was involved but it was which meant Fred and me, too. So it's probably best that you and I hadn't gotten together. I wouldn't have wanted you to be caught in the middle of that mess. And yes, it was as bad as the paper said. Fortunately, no one was hurt on our side, well not seriously anyway. Dad said this means he and Remus will probably meet with their guy next month as it is important they keep information flowing. So I may not see you again until then . . . unless you let me come to your house and actually take you out on a date. Would that be so bad? Love, George

Cassie felt nauseated as she wrote back a response. She was upset about Voldemort and that George, Harry and others had once again been in danger. She was also frustrated that she didn't know what was happening in the Wizarding World and was afraid she wouldn't know if there was bad news until a long time after it happened or perhaps never, this news from George being a prime example. However, she couldn't let on that she didn't know anything about a battle, so she tried to make her response carefully neutral. 

Dear George, I figured that you were all right or I would have heard something. I'm glad to hear from you, though. And I'm really glad that Harry and everyone else was able to fight Lord Voldemort again. Is this war ever going to end? I really want to see you again, but I think it's best if we just meet at the store if your dad and Remus ever bring me back. There are some things you don't know about me that could make your coming here sort of tricky. Ask your dad if you can't wait to find out. He knows everything. Love, Cassie

She tied the note onto the owl's leg with shaking fingers and again watched as the bird flew out of sight. It wasn't fair to George to keep him hanging on like this. She almost hoped Arthur would just tell him the truth so that she didn't have to. She just could never seem to find the right time or the right words. 

The next owl that arrived three days later was Hedwig and it was carrying a note from Ginny. She felt a twinge of disappointment that it wasn't Harry's writing which she saw when she opened the parchment, but she read the note with interest, wondering what she could want. 

Dear Cassie, This is Ginny. Harry had to fight Voldemort again on Halloween. He beat him back, but it took a lot out of him and he spent a whole week in the hospital wing. He's really feeling down and I'm a little worried about him. I was hoping you might be willing to send him a note. I think it would cheer him up. Ginny

Cassie thought for a little while about what she could possibly say to Harry to cheer him up. Finally, she took a clean piece of some old stationary that had unicorns on the top and wrote a note. 

Dear Harry, I heard that you beat Voldemort again. I'm not surprised. You are one of the most amazing people I know. I think that sometimes you feel responsible for all the bad stuff that happens, that somehow if you would just do your job better, it wouldn't. That isn't true. Remember what we talked about that night on the couch? They were willing to fight, even when they thought you were dead. It is not all your responsibility. You will wind up winning this war, I am sure of it. You will, because you are too stubborn to let it happen otherwise. Write back sometime. I love hearing from you. Love, Cassie

She reread the note several times before tying it carefully to Hedwig's leg. She hoped it did what Ginny wanted. She could imagine Harry beating himself up because he had once, again, let Lord Voldemort escape. But she was sure that he had done his best. She had seen him fight and had been amazed at how powerful he was, even though he was only 17. And she truly thought that with all the good people, including George and Fred, fighting on his side, there was no way they were going to lose. 

More than week passed before Cassie saw another owl. It was George's and it was resting on her bedroom window sill when she got home from school that afternoon. She was extremely nervous as she opened the window and let the owl in. She wasn't even able to get the parchment off the owl's leg before there was a knock at her door. She gasped. She wasn't sure what to do. She could send the owl back outside, but what if it took off before she was able to grab the parchment? And she really wanted to know what George had to say this time. 

"Who is it?" 

"It's me. Can I come in?"

"Um, no, Mum. Not right now." Cassie reached for the string that tied the parchment onto the owl's leg, thinking she would just grab it, shoo the bird out, and then let her mum into the room. But she had no sooner grabbed the parchment, than the door opened and her mum poked her head in. 

"Cassie, it's not like you to try to keep me out of your room. What's going - oh, my! What is that?"

"It's an owl, mum. You may as well come in. Hurry and shut the door." So then Cassie had to explain about how wizards sent their mail by owl and how this particular owl was George's and that he had just delivered a letter. Cassie wanted to read it desperately, but she also didn't want to read it in front of her mother. She had no idea what the note would say. Her mother seemed rather anxious to leave as Icharus was still waiting to return Cassie's answer and kept flying around the room, obviously impatient to get back. So, after her mum left the room muttering something about why they couldn't use mailboxes, Cassie carefully unrolled the note. It was long, which made her feel at least a little better. 

Dear Cassie, I didn't want to ask my dad what you were keeping secret from me. I thought that was something between the two of us, something I wanted to talk about with you in person. But, honestly, I am beginning to despair that I will ever actually see you again. I tried to find your address but couldn't, so I asked Dad how I could apparate to your house. He just said I couldn't and left it at that. I figured out that you must be Muggle-born and that's why you don't have an owl of your own and why you are so nervous for me to come visit. Don't worry about that. My brother's girlfriend Hermione is Muggle-born and she is a really powerful witch. If you ever agree to be my girlfriend (my fingers are crossed), it won't be a problem with me that you're Muggle-born. 

I also asked my dad if he could just get you and bring you here to see me if I can't go to you, but he said no. So, I guess we'll have to wait a little longer to see each other. I hope, Cassie, that you feel the same way about me as I do about you. You haven't ever really said so. Fred says that someone as pretty as you would never want to be seen in the company of someone as weird-looking as I am so you probably don't. I hope he's wrong and I hope to see you again, really soon. Love, George

Cassie laughed loudly at the thought of Fred telling George he was weird-looking since, of course, they were almost identical. She also flushed with pleasure at the thought that George (or Fred) thought she was pretty. She flipped the parchment over and wrote an answer quickly. 

Dear George, I agree. This is something we need to talk about in person. Thank you for your note. I do want to see you very much. I'll see you very soon, even if I have to come down to your shop myself and get in all sorts of trouble for it. Love, Cassie

She didn't know what else to say to him. It was all just so very complicated. She needed to see him in person and that meant waiting for Remus and Arthur to have a meeting and be willing to take her to Diagon Alley with them. And for all she knew, they would never take her again. She certainly had had no indication of it for a while. But she was serious about seeing George again to tell him that she was a Muggle. She owed him that much, at least. She tied the note onto Icharus' leg and sent him out the window. 

She was glad the next two weeks that she was extremely busy in school. Writing term papers and studying for tests kept her focused on doing things and kept her from getting too depressed about the lack of contact from the two older wizards. Her dad had asked her a few times what had happened, and Cassie had said she didn't know. The last time he asked with her mother hovering sympathetically in the background and Cassie had run out of the room crying. Nothing was said again in her presence and she tried as hard as she could to concentrate on what she had to do to get good marks in her classes. 

So, when on a rainy Wednesday afternoon she arrived home from school to find Remus and Arthur sitting in her living room having tea with her mother, you could have knocked her over with one of Icharus's feathers. All three looked up and smiled. Cassie's mum explained, "Arthur and Remus arrived about 30 minutes ago and I insisted they take tea. I also made them promise to come by more often and to make sure to stay for dinner this evening as Andrew has missed visiting with them." She smiled at the two men who nodded in agreement. Remus then looked at Cassie.

"Cassie, we have an important meeting this afternoon in Diagon Alley and wondered if you would want to come. But it is a school night, so we understand . .."

"No. I definitely want to come." She wouldn't have cared what sort of schoolwork she had. She wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to go. It had been almost two months since she had last visited there. Her mother made the usual fuss about making sure she was home at a decent hour, but Cassie didn't worry too much. Her mum trusted Remus and Arthur, even though she now knew they were wizards, and Cassie knew that as long as she was with them, her mum wouldn't really be too worried. 

The three of them started walking toward the Underground, but Remus pulled them over into a little park a few minutes later and they took a portkey. Cassie wasn't too thrilled, but she also knew that time was of the essence, as it got dark so early in the evening now. Taking the Underground would be too time-consuming. She landed flat on her back in a crowded storeroom and Arthur helped her up. It took her a moment to realize that they were in the back of George and Fred's shop. Oh. She would be seeing him now then. She wished she had a few more minutes to get her thoughts together. She bit her lip, trying to think of a good way to tell him the truth. It was a moment she dreaded but she also was really looking forward to seeing him again, no matter what the reason was. 

But when they walked out into the shop, she realized immediately that she would not be having a heart-to-heart conversation with George at this moment. The store was busy and he was surrounded by a large knot of customers demanding attention. Remus and Arthur left her standing there as they went to meet their informant and she looked around for a few minutes. The store was obviously decorated for the holidays as there were displays of green and gold in the front window. She went over and looked at what they had out. There were a lot of candies displayed in pretty packaging and Cassie grimaced, thinking that there would be a lot of people taken in by the innocuous looking wrapping on Christmas morning - until they turned purple or breathed fire. She glanced out the window and froze in absolute amazement. It had been raining at her house and she knew that the temperature in London today was nowhere near the freezing mark. But apparently, no one had told the wizards that. It was snowing here, soft fluffy-looking flakes that coated the street and landed softly on the people passing through a winter wonderland of snowy streets with horse-drawn sleighs. She glanced back, trying to catch George's eye to let him know that she was there and was going to step outside, but he was busy explaining something to a customer so she decided it wouldn't hurt to just go out for just a quick look. 

She stepped out of the shop and stared in wonder at the hundreds of Christmas trees lining the sidewalks. She stepped close to one standing nearby and saw that each tree was bedecked with miniature candles burning white, green and red flames and from which Christmas carols could be heard. Cassie stood literally open-mouthed at the sight for a minute. Magic was incredible. 

Cassie decided it would be okay for her to stroll along the street and look around a little bit before it got dark. She had been out on her own before and as long as she stayed along the main thoroughfare she would be fine. She pulled her coat tighter around her, grateful for its warmth, and set out to do some window-shopping. She wished that she had thought to grab more money before coming today. She hadn't even thought about shopping for presents because she hadn't realized that wizards would make such a big deal about Christmas. She stared into the first window that she came to, the ice cream shop, and and it wasn't long before she was completely entranced, completely forgetting about her vow to stay close to the twins' store. In the window of the ice cream shop, she saw a scarlet-colored train engine and accompanying cars engraved with the words Hogwarts Express. Cassie remembered Harry had talked about taking a train to school and wondered if this is what it looked like. The miniature train was winding its way around and through mountains of ice cream of various flavors and colors. Along side the tracks were trees and villages made candy and sugar. The entire setting was being sprinkled by magical snowflakes. The miniature people inhabiting the villages were moving and Cassie stared, wishing she could somehow capture the sight for her brothers. They would love it. 

Cassie continued her stroll along the street, looking into various shops richly decorated for the season. She then crossed over to one of her favorite shops, Quality Quidditch Supplies, and stood at the storefront window. There were several broomsticks on display and a rather humorous poster of Father Christmas riding on a Firebolt that looked a lot like the one Harry owned. He was waving and nodding, patting the broom as he juggled his large bag. Cassie laughed as he looked like he was about to slip off and then righted himself. The words that scrolled under the jolly old elf touted the safety features of the broom and implied that while flying reindeer were rather unpredictable, a Firebolt could always be depended on to get you where you needed to be. Cassie smiled and went to the next store that caught her eye, Flourish and Blott's. 

The popular bookstore's storefront window was adorned with three enchanted snowmen holding caroling books and singing. The caroling books were titled, The Magic of Christmas Carols. There were other holiday-themed books displayed at the feet of the snowmen. Several of them were children's books and they looked amazing. Cassie wished that she had hours to go in and read them. Among the book titles for grown-ups were Christmas Decorating: It's Magic and Putting Fire Into Your Holiday Dishes: Ogden's Fire Whiskey Cooking Guide. She thought back to that dinner at Hogwarts and smiled. That Fire Whiskey seemed to be the drink of choice for wizards. Knowing them, it probably really did catch fire. She decided she didn't want to ever try it. 

Before Cassie realized it, it was starting to get dark, and she turned around to go back to the store. She stopped suddenly. The store wasn't in sight. Had she gone further than she realized? She must have done because nothing around here looked familiar. Well, no need to panic. She could just ask somebody where the ice cream shop was. Everyone would know that and then George's shop was just next door. 

However, now that she wanted to find someone to ask, she was appalled to note that the streets were almost deserted. Some of the stores were closed, and she realized that if she didn't hurry, all of the customers and shopkeepers would be gone for the night. A small bubble of fear rose in her throat. A horse drawn sleigh raced by her as she tried to get a better look from the street and she jumped out of the way as the horse didn't seem inclined to stop. As she picked herself up from the sidewalk, she realized that she was no longer in Diagon Alley. She had been pushed into a side alley. She looked up and down the narrow street. It was darker here although the snow was still falling. There were a few decorations out, but they seemed rather half-hearted and dingy looking. She had a terrible sense of dread standing here. She tried to suppress the niggling terror that was creeping on the edge of her consciousness. She was about to step back out onto the familiar street when she saw a small group of people pass by across the way. She decided that she would ask them for directions to the ice-cream shop. They had just turned from the Alley and would certainly be able to tell her whether to turn left or right when she got back onto the main thoroughfare. 

She tried to call to them, but her voice didn't seem to carry well and they never even slowed down. She tried to catch them, but before she could, they turned into a small shop. Well, it looked a little run-down, but at least there were lights on and customers inside. Once she just had a general idea of where to go, she could leave quickly. Maybe they could even draw her a quick map. She pushed the door open wider and stepped across the threshold. This time, the incredible sense of evil being present was even stronger and she promised herself that she would ask as quickly as possible and leave. 

Strange. There was no one in the shop. She looked around, wondering if the people were just standing out of her sight. But no, there was definitely no one in here. She felt the small feeling of panic that had lodged in her stomach the second she had turned and not been able to see the twins' shop expand until it now felt big enough to choke her. She was about to back out of the doorway when she heard voices coming from the back of the shop. That explained where they had gone then. She decided that she would just knock politely on the partially-open door and ask for directions. Then she could leave this spooky place. As she entered further into the shop, however, she gasped. The objects in the shop were dreadful - nothing that she had ever seen before or hoped to ever see again. She wasn't sure, but she was fairly positive these were dark magic objects. They seemed to consist of a lot of shrunken heads and hands and books that looked like they had blood stains on them. She was getting ready to leave the awful shop and take her chances with the darkening street when the voices from the back room got louder. She turned automatically to greet whoever had come out of the door and realized that no one was coming out, the door was just opened wider and she could see the people who were sitting back there. It looked like some sort of meeting -- then she stopped and froze absolutely still. She could see blond hair through the doorway, pale blond. It was all too familiar. She had seen that same hair through Harry's window many months ago many times throughout a very long night when they were trapped inside his enchanted house. She would never forget his name or his appearance. And then the familiar voice echoed through the shop and she couldn't help the involuntary shudder that shook her. The evil that was radiating from him made her weak in the knees. She really needed to get away from here quickly. 

"Well, Blackman, I hope this works. Your schemes lately have not been as successful as we had hoped. The Dark Lord is getting very impatient and I wouldn't be surprised if he decided to replace you permanently, if it doesn't." That was certainly Lucius Malfoy speaking. There was no doubt about it. But the thing that shocked Cassie the most was the name of the man whom he addressed. She recognized the name Blackman. It was her father's boss's name. Of course, there could be lots of Blackmans in the world. Her father's boss was certainly not a wizard, so he wouldn't be here, in this obviously wizarding shop. A dark wizarding shop, no less. 

There was a mumbled voice. It was quiet but Cassie caught several words, words that seemed terribly out of place in this store. "News media . . . the tabloids . . . the Army." Then another voice spoke, and Cassie did not recognize this one either but at least she could hear what this man said. 

"Malfoy's right, Blackman. And I don't think he would be sending you a retirement gift. You wouldn't be around to enjoy it. So you better make sure that the Muggle Prime Minister does as we expect. And the Secretary may have to be neutralized if he gives us any trouble." Cassie's stomach turned over. The Muggle Prime Minister and one of his Secretaries - what did they have to do with anything that would matter to these people? She heard the mumbling again but couldn't catch anything that man said this time. 

Then a voice that Cassie certainly did recognize spoke from the back room and she moved a little closer to the door, hoping that she could see if it really was her dad's boss or if she was just imagining things. "He will, he will. The man's too trusting and he's a fool, besides. I've had Robinson set up a private meeting between the PM and myself. He'll be almost pitifully easy to place under the Imperius curse. Then, it's a simple matter of having him announce a change in policy . . . ." Cassie didn't hear anything more because as she attempted to take one step closer to the open door, she knocked against the counter and something fell off and shattered. She gasped in terror. There was no chance they hadn't heard that. It had sounded like a cannon shot in the otherwise silent shop. And sure enough, half a second later the door opened wide and the face of Richard Blackman, definitely her dad's boss, showed through the opening. He was wearing wizard robes, but it was him. She was sure. Cassie glanced into his angry face, and then looked past him into the well-lit room where a small group of wizards was staring out at her, obviously just as shocked as she was to come face-to-face with them. Mr. Blackman, whom she had met on numerous occasions over the past several years, looked at her and she saw a flash of recognition followed immediately by confusion at what she was doing here in this shop. Cassie immediately knew that it was not the time to introduce herself again. She had to get of that shop and she had to get out of there fast. 


	7. Keeping Cassie Safe

Chapter 7

Keeping Cassie Safe

Cassie knew her life was in danger and she was smarter than to stick around to see what happened. The door was still cracked open and she scrambled across the shop, ripped the door open and tore through it like a shot. She could see the lights of Diagon Alley up ahead and she ran like the hounds of hell were after her, which she supposed they probably were. She could hear muffled shouts and screams behind her and she could have sworn that she even saw a red curse pass over her head and hit a sign which disintegrated. When she got to the main street she turned right and ran for all she was worth toward people and noise and light and crowds. She recognized the bookstore and, taking heart that she was going the right direction, ran flat out until she saw the familiar Weasley's Wizard Wheezes sign a few seconds later. She hit the door at a full sprint, throwing herself into the warmth and light of the empty shop and into the arms of the boy standing there - Fred. 

"Oh, oh, Fred. I'm being chased. Dark wizards. Malfoy. Hide me! I've got to . . . hide!" She was gasping for air and hoped that he understood what she had said. Fortunately, Fred didn't take time to ask questions, he just shoved her back through the doorway into the storeroom. She heard the door of the shop open seconds later and the angry voice of Richard Blackman echoed through the store. Fred shoved her back behind some boxes, checking to make sure she couldn't be seen. He leaned very close to her, his hand covering her mouth, and for one brief moment, Cassie had the completely inappropriate thought that she wished it had been George standing there instead of Fred. She had never been so afraid in her entire life. 

His voice was low in her ear. "Quiet. We'll cover for you." As if she needed to be told. She was afraid to even breathe, although she felt fairly safe, now. George wouldn't let anything happen to her. She was sure of that. When her breathing quieted enough that she could hear something beside her own harsh gasps, she listened to the discussion going on in the main part of the store. What she heard made her heart race in terror once again. They had found her! 

"I'll tell you again, Blackman," George was saying, "no one has come through that door in the last 10 minutes except for you. And if you're not here to buy anything, I would appreciate it if you would leave. We are just trying to close."

"She was blond. A young girl. She was running and I saw her come in here. She stole something from me." 

"For the last time, she didn't come in here. You are obviously mistaken. Maybe she tricked you somehow." 

"There was no trick . . . ." His voice was low but menacing, and Cassie almost involuntarily held her breath. This was a far cry from the syrupy sweet way he had always treated her when she had visited her father at his office. It had been almost a year since she had seen him and she prayed that he wouldn't be able to place her in his memory. But what was he doing here? She just couldn't believe that her dad's boss was a wizard - it just didn't compute. 

"Blackman, I can assure you that if she shows up here, we will hold her and let you know. Can't have thieves in the Alley, can we? Bad for business. What was it exactly that she took?" This was Fred now. His voice was also low and calm but it was intense. Cassie was glad they seemed to be accomplished liars. 

"That's none of your concern. But I have witnesses and I don't intend to just let her get away with it." Cassie leaned against the wall in her little hideout and mentally kicked herself for getting all of them into this situation. She had known that the shop, and in fact the whole street, were not places she should have been. She wished with all her heart that she had never gone into that shop. The twins and Mr. Blackman were still arguing but Cassie couldn't hear exactly what they were saying. He obviously was accusing them of lying and they were insisting that they were alone in the store. She hoped that they could keep up the front until the man gave up and left. 

Suddenly, George's voice was raised and Cassie heard it clearly. "Ah, Dad. Glad to see you."

"Blackman." That was Arthur's voice and Cassie had never heard it sound so cold. "What's going on? It's past closing time." She almost wouldn't have believed it was the same kindly wizard who had been so fascinated with her parents' coffee maker. 

The spookily familiar voice explained his story once more and Cassie sincerely hoped no one believed him. She was angry he was impugning her reputation, but she supposed it was stupid to worry about that right at this point. "Weasley, Lupin. I was just telling your sons that I chased a young blond girl into this shop. She is a thief, stole something from me and I want it back." 

Arthur spoke again and Cassie felt a frisson of fear slide down her spine, picturing the stand-off in the next room. "Now, there's no need for that. Put it away. Boys, you, too. We can't have these fireworks go off if someone throws a curse wrong." Cassie didn't hear anything else for a long minute. They had obviously all had their wands out. She closed her eyes. She would never forgive herself if any of them got hurt. 

After a moment, Mr. Blackman spoke again. "This is not the last of this. She came in here. I was only a few steps behind her and I am positive of it." 

"Have they seen her?" That was Lupin. 

"No. They claim they haven't. However, I am sure you will agree that they are both accomplished liars. I want to search the store."

"I think not." That was George again. "As I have told you, we are in the process of closing. If you wish to alert the Ministry to your suspicions and bring an appropriate . . ."

"No. That won't be necessary at this point. However, I will remember how helpful the four of you have been." Somehow, that was a threat and Cassie shuddered. She hoped that nothing she did caused them any permanent difficulties. There were several minutes of silence and Cassie wasn't sure whether to come out from behind the boxes or not. She stood very still, undecided and flustered at the complete quiet.

Then she heard raised voices again. "I didn't even know she had been here, Dad. She must have left immediately after you dropped her off."

"I don't think it's fair to blame us when you left her here without even telling us." That was Fred and Cassie felt a new spasm of guilt shoot through her. She had really blown it this time. The twins were getting in trouble because of her. Then the boxes moved and George was there and she was pulled into his warm arms and she pressed her face against the material of his shirt and despite herself she started crying. He held her for a long minute without saying anything and then Lupin took her arm, the portkey held in his other hand. 

"I need to get you home. I want to know exactly what just happened. Let's go." Cassie raised a tear-stained face to George but he just smiled faintly. Arthur was standing behind him, looking grave. Lupin turned to him. "Get me some backup. I think there's going to be trouble." Arthur nodded and disapparated. 

George was reluctant to let go of Cassie and it was only Lupin's frustrated growl that caused him to let go of her. "It's okay. I'll see you again soon." And then she touched the portkey and she was standing on her front porch and Lupin was knocking on her front door. 

A moment later, her front door opened and her mother looked out. She immediately took in the stern look on Lupin's face and Cassie's tear-stained, stricken face and ushered them inside with a gasp. 

"Andrew, something's wrong" she called into the family room. Cassie was extremely grateful to know her father was alive and well. Hearing his name mentioned at the horrible meeting had shaken her. Indeed, the entire foundations of her world had shifted a few minutes before and she was grateful for at least the stability of her parents and the muffled noise of her brothers playing in the back bedrooms. Her father had not suddenly turned into a wizard like his boss seemed to have done. He came into the living room looking concernedly at his only daughter. 

Remus spoke quietly, but firmly. "Something happened in Diagon Alley. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but Cassie needs to tell me and I think that perhaps it is best if she tells all of us at once. I think . . . I hesitate to say it, but I think it somehow involves your work, Andrew. You do work for someone named Richard Blackman, do you not?"

"Well, yes. He is my immediate supervisor, but I . . ."

"I think that I need to tell you quite a few things, Rebecca and Andrew, that perhaps it will not be easy for you to hear. We must move quickly. I am positive that Cassie was recognized this evening. Her life is in danger and I'm afraid as a consequence all of yours are as well." 

The next couple of hours were not easy for either Cassie or her parents. Remus started the entire dreadful conversation by explaining, in quite a matter-of-fact way, that he was a wizard and so was Arthur and that Harry Potter, the boy they had befriended that summer, was one also. Of course, Cassie's mother already knew this but it was new to her father and it took quite a bit of talking to prove it to him. Of course, Remus could do magic, so a few minor charms and her father was halfway convinced. Cassie thought about how awkward it had been when Ron, Harry, and Hermione were trying to convince her of the same things and how disbelieving she had been. She smiled faintly to herself. It was the last time she smiled in a long time. 

Remus then went on to explain about Lord Voldemort and his determination to take over the wizarding and Muggle worlds and Harry's role in fighting against it and the reason he had been hiding, etc. He also discussed, again in very matter-of-fact tones, how Cassie had been forced to come to Hogwarts and how they had been so worried about her when she had returned and how they had been taking her to Diagon Alley to help her adjust to the change and how it had been going very well up to that point. Cassie tried not to look at her father too closely. She was afraid she would see that he was angry at her, and she didn't think she could bear it - not tonight. 

"Then, I'm afraid that tonight . . . well, I'm not really sure what happened. Cassie, I'd appreciate it if you would tell us exactly what did happen this evening." 

"It's my fault completely, Mum, Dad. I was careless. Remus and Arthur left me at the shop and I looked out the window and the decorations were so beautiful and it was starting to get dark so I thought I would just look outside really quickly. I assumed that George and Fred knew I was there even though I hadn't said anything to them. I guess . . . they didn't. Anyway, I started looking at the various windows and soon I got lost. I thought I would ask somebody for directions but some of the stores were closing and . . ." She looked at Lupin pleadingly, hoping he wasn't too angry at her. He was looking very serious, but not angry, exactly. "I think I turned off the main street, well, I know I did actually. I don't know where I ended up. But there were these people and they went into this shop and I followed them. They weren't in the store and I was going to leave but then there was this open door and I could hear people talking, so I went closer, to ask them directions to George's store."

Lupin interrupted her. "What sorts of things were for sale in this shop?" 

  
  


Cassie shuddered, remembering how horrible some of the objects had looked. " There were all sorts of terrible things in there." She tried to describe a few of the items and what the store looked like and how far into the new alley it had been. "I'm pretty sure that those objects all had to do with dark magic." Lupin nodded, grimacing slightly as she finished her recitation. 

"Yes, I think I know where you were. Definitely dark magic. You were definitely somewhere you should not have been." Cassie flushed and stared down at her feet. She felt absolutely terrible. She picked up the story again, though, knowing that the worst was yet to come. 

"Anyway, I could hear voices coming from the back room, and then I recognized Lucius Malfoy through the open door. And they were talking and I heard him say my dad's boss's name." Cassie repeated the conversation as exactly as she could. Remus nodded when she got to the part about the Imperius curse, like he wasn't surprised, but her dad spoke up at that point. He hadn't said a word since Remus had described Lord Voldemort and what he was doing. 

"What does this Imperius curse do, exactly?" 

"It puts the person under total control of the wizard that casts the spell. If you are under Imperius, you have no will of your own. It is a terrible curse and it is strictly forbidden under wizarding law. Unfortunately, as you know, criminals take that very little into account." 

"So, if the Prime Minister were to be under this curse, he would do whatever he was told?"

"I'm afraid so. The curse can be fought, but a Muggle, I'm afraid, would have almost no chance of doing that. He would just be literally a puppet." Lupin looked carefully at her father. "Have you set up the meeting that Blackman described?" 

"Yes. It was supposed to be on Friday. Blackman doesn't know it yet, but it was postponed until next Tuesday because of a visiting dignitary who has changed his itinerary. But there is a meeting, yes." 

Lupin took a deep breath. "At least we have a little time before we have to worry too much about that -- unless of course, knowing that some of their plot was overheard makes them change plans. How protected is your Prime Minister normally? Does he have bodyguards around him, or what?" 

"Normally, no. But what if we just warned the Prime Minister about Blackman and had him fired, wouldn't that help? I mean, then he'd be safe." 

"Well, that's an option. I wouldn't want to make too many suggestions until we know exactly who is involved in this and what they are trying to accomplish." Lupin looked at Cassie. "Please, finish the story." Her father nodded gravely in agreement and Cassie continued with her story, ending with George pulling her out from behind the boxes in the storeroom. When she dared to look at them again, both her parents looked pale and Cassie wiped at her own face. She hadn't realized it, but she had started crying again during the telling of the story and she stared back down at her feet, wishing with everything she had that she hadn't ever walked out of Fred and George's store that afternoon. Finally, her father spoke. 

"So, if my boss is a wizard, which I am still finding difficult to believe, why is he working in our office?" 

"Well, it's a front, honestly. One that both our government and yours has sanctioned. He has acted as liaison between our Minister of Magic and the British Prime Minister for many years. To the best of my knowledge, he has done an adequate job. I am very surprised that he has gone over to the dark side but it has certainly happened to others. I don't know what hold Voldemort has gained over him and if it is recent or if these machinations have been in the works for a long time. But that is not important right now. Now, it sounds like there is some plot in motion and we will need to find out exactly what is going on. It is possible that his seeing you, Cassie, changed his mind. He recognized you. He mentioned your name to Malfoy out in the street after he left the shop." 

Her father swore, a word that Cassie had never heard him use. Her mother did not correct him. Remus just smiled faintly. "Ditto. As I said, Cassie, your life is in serious danger. I will return immediately to Dumbledore and tell him what has happened this evening and we will certainly do our best to find out exactly what is in the works. We have spies and informants who can infiltrate the group and figure out what is going on. Right now, however, I think we need to concentrate on keeping Cassie safe." Before any of the people in the room could say anything more, Arthur suddenly apparated into the middle of the living room and both Andrew and Rebecca stared in absolute shock at the wizard standing there. Even Cassie was slightly startled. She had seen wizards disapparate but had never seen them apparate and she thought it was a sign of exactly how desperate the situation was that they had done this in front of her parents. Arthur turned to Remus.

"We've got Tonks and Shacklebolt outside now. I don't think we have to worry too much about someone actually getting into the house tonight. They wouldn't dare until they knew for sure that it was Cassie who overheard them. And he wasn't sure. He thought he recognized her but told Malfoy that he wasn't positive." Remus nodded in understanding and then told the silent group that he was going to report to Dumbledore. As he got ready to leave, Cassie took hold of his sleeve.

"I'm really sorry, Remus." 

"Cassie, I'm not angry with you. Frustrated, yes, but not angry. But mainly, I'm worried about you."

With that, he disapparated immediately. Arthur then turned to Cassie's parents who were both pale and looked like they might pass out if there were any more nasty surprises thrown at them. He sighed and sat down on the couch. "What a mess. And I feel totally responsible for this." He put his head in his hands and stared down at the floor. 

Cassie felt this was unfair. "It's not your fault, Arthur. I left and I shouldn't have." She had known, of course, there was a war going on but somehow it had never touched her in that amazing place and it was easier to pretend that it was all very far away. But it wasn't and now she had put her own life and, even more terrible, the lives of her entire family at risk. 

He looked up at her, his face suddenly haggard. "But none of us ever warned you about going down Knockturn Alley or anything else for that matter." Cassie shifted in her chair, feeling terribly guilty about all the trouble she had caused but before she could apologize once again, her mother jumped into the conversation. 

"I don't think it really matters who is responsible, Arthur. The important thing is that we need to keep her safe, now. Not worry about why it happened." 

Arthur nodded. "That's true. Well, Lupin should be back fairly quickly with some directions from Dumbledore." He stood up and started pacing back and forth in the room. After a moment, Andrew spoke.

"What are a tonks and a shacklebolt? And what exactly do they do outside? To keep us safe, I mean?" Arthur looked vaguely confused and then realized what he had asked.

"Oh, they're not what's. They're who's." Andrew looked completely befuddled and Arthur clarified. "They're people. They're Aurors - um, guards. They'll watch the house tonight and if anyone should try to approach your house, they'll take care of them." Andrew nodded and walked to the window, trying to look out and see who was out there. 

"Are they armed, then?" He couldn't see them through the window and after a moment he turned back to the others in the room. 

"Yes. And they wouldn't hesitate to kill if it was necessary. They're professionals." Cassie shuddered suddenly. She had done this - had caused this whole mess. It would have been better if she had just had the stupid memory modification spell put on her from the beginning. She chewed nervously on her thumbnail.

"Arthur, would it do any good to have that memory charm thing performed on me now? Maybe we could convince them that I don't know anything. I mean, if I've honestly forgotten it . . ." She looked hopefully up into Arthur's kind face but did not see any clearing of the worry that etched deep lines in his forehead. 

"No, Cassie. Memory charms can be reversed and they would never take a chance on leaving you alive if you could get them sent to prison. Plus, if we approached them to tell them about the charm, then they would know you had told others. I'm afraid that we just need to face what happens, now. It'll be all right. You'll see." He forced a smile and Cassie felt her stomach turn over. He was obviously worried sick and consequently, so was she. She stared at the wall for a long time. Her father was sitting there with a miserable expression on his face and Cassie could imagine the hell he must be going through to see his daughter in mortal danger. After a moment her father looked up.

"I could use a stiff drink."

Arthur turned immediately. "That sounds lovely. What have you got?" 

Cassie's mother scowled. "We don't have anything. Andrew was joking. He doesn't drink." 

Arthur looked very disappointed and Cassie noted that so did her father. "Maybe we should stock some in the future, Rebecca. I have a feeling I'm going to be needing it."

"I should bring you some Ogden's Fire Whiskey when I visit next." Her mother wrinkled her nose in slight distaste although her father nodded his agreement with this idea. 

That must be the alcoholic drink of choice for the wizarding world, Cassie thought to herself. It seemed to be everywhere. She thought about warning her father that it might actually catch his mouth on fire, thinking of the Dragon Kisses, but then remembered that George and Fred had actually drunk some of the stuff at Hogwarts and hadn't had any flames in their mouths that she could see. 

After a few more moments of silence, her father went to the door and opened it, looking outside, seemingly anxious to confirm for himself that there were guards outside. 

"I don't see anyone out there, Arthur. Are you sure that . . ."

Arthur joined him, putting his hand on his shoulder. "You wouldn't see them. They're currently invisible."

"Invisible? You're joking!"

"No. We're here." Cassie heard another muttered curse from her dad after the female voice spoke from the front porch. Then there was a man's voice - deep and calm - also from outside and her father shut the door and came back into the room. He looked shaken, which surprised Cassie as he had already tonight seen Arthur appear out of nowhere. He sat down next to Rebecca and squeezed her hand but didn't explain what he had seen on the porch. The three adults sat quietly and Cassie thought they looked like they were waiting for a death sentence to be handed down from a judge. Arthur tried a few times to make small talk, trying to lighten the mood a little, but beyond the polite necessary responses, her parents did not join in the conversation, so after a while, he abandoned the idea and they all just waited. It seemed to Cassie like they waited for several hours but her watch, which seemed to be frozen, indicated it had really not even been a complete hour before Lupin apparated into the living room. He still looked upset, but his eyes were kind and there was a ghost of a smile on his face. 

"I've spoken to Dumbledore and together we have developed a -" 

Andrew interrupted. "Who's this Bumblebore person you keep mentioning?"

"It's Dumbledore, Dad. And he's the headmaster at Harry's school." 

Her dad's brow furrowed. "What does the headmaster of a boarding school have to do with this and why would his opinion matter in the least? I think you should be talking to the head of your, um, government or something. This is -" Her father would have continued but Lupin put up his hand. 

"I'll be happy to explain. Please, why don't you sit down, Andrew?" Her father had started pacing the room, antsy and anxious to do something to make things right again. Cassie imagined, however, that he was feeling very powerless right now, which explained his frustration and anger at the two grown wizards, who were having to do what he could not. Protect his daughter. 

"I'd rather walk, I think." 

"All right. I have to tell you first of all that the head of our Ministry is a rather incompetent fool. Like so many bureaucrats, present company excluded of course, he thinks of his own job first and the welfare of others comes in a distant second. He has occasional flashes of decency but when the chips are really down, um, we don't usually bother to even notify him." 

"Oh. Yes, well. . . I know people like that."

"Yeah. We all do. And things are no different just because we can do magic, I'm afraid." The two men exchanged wry smiles. They had both had experience working with government. The fact that one was Muggle and one was magic didn't change basic human nature. "Dumbledore turned down the position of Minister to remain the headmaster at Hogwarts and he is, in fact if not in title, the most powerful wizard alive today. If Cassie were my daughter, there is no one I would trust more to keep her safe than he." 

Arthur agreed quickly. "He's right, Andrew. Dumbledore is the head of the resistence movement against Voldemort. He's the man that we need right now." Cassie knew they were right.

"I've met him, Dad. He's a very powerful wizard." She was relieved when her father visibly relaxed at her words. 

Lupin then continued to explain the plan they had developed. "There is a small possibility that by tomorrow Blackman will have convinced himself that it was not Cassie whom he saw in the store and will have decided he will just keep a careful eye on you for the next little while. If that is the case, then your concerns are over other than just making sure that he never sets eyes on her again. But, honestly, that is rather unlikely. He would almost certainly want to find out if there is any possibility that it was Cassie he saw today and will ask you questions about her. He would never come right out and ask you if she could have been in Diagon Alley yesterday or if she's a witch. If he did have the wrong girl and asked you those kinds of questions, it could get him in serious trouble." 

"What do you think he will ask me, then?" Cassie's father was looking extremely nervous and Cassie's guilt increased substantially. This was a terrible mess. 

"I don't know the man well, so I couldn't really say. If it was me asking, I would just ask how your children are, pretend to remember their names, and ask how they are all enjoying school, etc., etc. Then after another minute, I would ask how old your daughter is and how she is doing in school and everything, what she does in her spare time, that sort of thing." 

"Would he really be hoping that I would just come out and say she's a witch or something?" 

"No. But I think he would watch for your reaction. If you start getting nervous or agitated, he will know that something is up. Then he would do further investigating, perhaps plan on coming over for a visit, inviting your whole family over to his house for a dinner or something. He would want to see Cassie in person, figuring that he would recognize her if he saw her." Rebecca's mouth tightened into a thin line at this. 

"He'll never lay eyes on her again if I have anything to say about it." Her voice was angry and tight. Lupin sighed quietly.

"We all feel that way. It's absolutely vital that until the plot is uncovered and the perpetrators arrested that she not be seen by any of them. I think most of them got a pretty good look at her, didn't they, Cassie?" She nodded. Lupin continued, then, apparently feeling they were all anxious to find out what had to be done. "What we want you to tell him is that she is fine and enjoying school very much, that she is currently attending a boarding school on the continent, Switzerland, perhaps."

"What?!" All three of the Muggles in the room practically shouted in surprise. Lupin held his hand up at the sudden outburst. 

"We think it'll work. If he thinks she is going to school somewhere far away from here, he hopefully will be convinced that it couldn't have been her that he saw in the store. And it's important that it's in a different country. To a wizard, distance is very unimportant. A fully-grown wizard can apparate great distances, portkeys are very efficient, and flooing is an option even for young children. But doing any of those things from different continents and countries is significantly more difficult. As she is underage, this even makes it less likely that she would be able to travel here just for a quick visit." Both Andrew and Rebecca nodded, but Cassie could tell by the looks on their faces that they did not understand a single thing Lupin had just said. Of course, neither did she, other than the bit about the portkey. Cassie glanced at Arthur to gauge his reaction. He looked like he had a few questions, himself.

"Remus, won't Blackman think it's strange that she is suddenly gone?" Remus smiled at Arthur. 

"Good question. Yes. You must act, Andrew, like she has been gone for several months. In fact, if it fits in well, maybe you could mention that you haven't seen her since this summer and you were looking forward to her visiting for the Christmas break, but she decided to stay there and ski or something. This will, hopefully, discourage him from coming to visit over Christmas as well." 

"I don't know - I mean, she has to go to school." 

"No. Not anymore." Cassie started and shook her head slightly. What had Remus just said?

"It's just too risky. It's a matter of life and death, Rebecca. Truly." Her mother, who had just been about to protest, shut her mouth with a snap. "We will hide her until the risk has passed. It might be only for a few days. We'll hopefully know more soon. Dumbledore is working quickly to figure out exactly what is going on. Meanwhile, Cassie, you will need to stay in the house. We're working on securing a hiding place right now and we will make sure guards are posted here around the clock. When we need to get you out of here, we will take you to this hiding place." 

"Where?" Cassie asked very quietly. 

"I'd rather not say right now. But I think you'll like it there."

"Will it be an invisible house like Harry had?" Cassie thought about how lonely Harry had been all alone in his rather depressing house and tried to imagine herself confined in similar circumstances. Both her parents were looking at her rather strangely, but Cassie didn't have the energy to explain. She was suddenly very, very tired.

"No. We've something else in mind." He didn't elaborate further but Cassie felt a little better. She could still remember what the house had looked like when she had gone back to see it after she came home from Hogwarts. And she remembered Harry saying that his parents were murdered in an invisible house like that. She didn't trust that sort of magic very much. Lupin finished explaining what would happen the next day when her dad went into work and Cassie listened without paying much attention. It was just too complicated and she was too sleepy to worry about it. She did get the idea , though. Arthur would be checking in with them periodically as would Lupin throughout the next few days, especially tomorrow. She was supposed to stay in the house, not even looking out the windows or answering the phone. Her father was supposed to go to work and act natural. If Mr. Blackman asked about her or said anything unusual, then he was supposed to call home on the pretense of asking about a dentist appointment. This would be the clue to her mum and everyone else that he had asked and that Cassie had to be moved immediately. Then, her mum was supposed to tell him that the appointment would be in about an hour so her dad would come home and say goodby before she had to leave. The adults talked for a long time about details. Cassie hated the look of worry that seemed now permanently etched on her parents' faces, especially as she had put it there. 

Both Cassie and her mother stared in horror at the phone when it rang the next day around 10:00 in the morning. Her mother's hands shook as she answered the phone and Cassie bit her lip and prayed it was just a friend. Then she heard her mother - her voice was slightly tremulous but clear. "Yes, dear. I got that appointment for you without any problem. It's at 11:30. Is that okay? I'll see you soon, then." She hung up the phone and turned to look at Cassie. They looked at each other for a long minute. "He asked." 

Cassie swallowed hard and nodded. "What should we do?" 

Her mother shrugged. "Wait for Remus or Arthur, I guess. They should be here pretty soon." But despite her mother's words, they both started moving nervously around the house, automatically gathering items that Cassie would need to take with her, no matter where she was going. It somehow helped keep the panic away. Remus only nodded darkly when he was told the news 20 minutes later. 

"I was hoping for a few days' grace. The original place we had thought about will not be possible for a little longer. So, we had decided that if you needed to be moved before then, we would take you to Hogwarts. You can pose as a student, blend in with kids your own age. Then, when the other hiding place is ready, you can be moved. Arthur will be happy to go buy everything you need for school, Cassie. You'll need a school uniform and some books, a broomstick, and a wand." Cassie's head was in a whirl. She would be going back to Hogwarts? She could hardly believe it. Remus put his hand firmly on her shoulder and started shaking her. She tried to move away from him. Why was he shaking her? His mouth opened but the words he said didn't make any sense. "Cassie. Cassie. Wake up. Come on. Everyone will be here in just a minute." 

Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she was looking into Remus' face. He smiled down at her. "I thought you'd want to be awake. Everyone will be here in a minute for a meeting." She looked around, a little disoriented. She was in Dumbledore's office, curled up on one of the extremely comfortable chairs against the softly curving wall. It was true. She was back at Hogwarts. 


	8. Pia Spencer

Chapter 8

Pia Spencer

Cassie stood nervously, unsure of who exactly was coming to this meeting and also unsure of what it was for. She did feel a little comforted in the fact that Remus was smiling at her and even Professor Dumbledore had a little half smile on his lips. In Cassie's experience, he didn't smile very much so she took that as a positive sign. There was a noise in the stairwell and then the door opened and in walked four very familiar people. They were laughing and teasing each other. Harry was holding Ginny's hand while Hermione's arm was linked with Ron's. They all looked expectantly at the headmaster, but he didn't say anything. Harry caught Remus's eye and then he saw Cassie. She almost laughed at the look on his face as his eyes quickly swept over her face and took in her school uniform. Everyone else turned to look at her also and then she did laugh, because they all looked absolutely stunned. 

Hermione was the first to say anything. "Oh, it's so good to see you again! What are you doing here?" She walked right up to Cassie and enfolded her in a big hug, which surprised Cassie a little but she returned the hug warmly, feeling her world right itself just a little bit instead of spinning completely off its axis as it had been for the last 24 hours or so. When Hermione stepped back to look Cassie over, Ginny was standing right by her and she also hugged Cassie. 

"Are you all right? You don't look very happy." 

"Well . . . . not really. But it's a long story." Harry approached the three of them, overhearing Cassie's quiet comments. 

"What's wrong? Is your family all right? Are you hurt?" Cassie smiled up at him and waited for the familiar ache to surface. Surprisingly, it didn't and she stepped closer to him. She stood on tiptoe and reached for his shoulders. He had grown at least another inch since she had seen him in the summer and she really had to stretch. She kissed him on the cheek as his arms slid around her waist and hugged her close to him. "It's so good to see you. But I have to admit, I'm very shocked." 

"Well, I'm shocked, too, believe me. Everyone's okay for right now. I'm here because it's the safest place for me, I guess. I'll explain everything, don't worry." She stepped back and everyone looked at Ron, expecting him to come hug her, too, although Cassie thought he probably wouldn't do it. She was right. He flushed a little, stammered hello, and then stuck out his hand. Hermione made an exasperated noise, but Cassie just smiled. She liked Ron well enough but hugging him would be a little strange. She shook his hand warmly. 

"Are . . . are you going to school here, then?" Ron asked, never afraid to ask the blunt questions. 

Cassie smiled. "Sort of."

"But . . . but . . . it's a little late to be starting school. Did you just find out you're a witch or something?" Ron had a very puzzled expression on his face, obviously trying to figure out why this Muggle girl was here at Hogwarts. Remus laughed and Professor Dumbledore chuckled, and Ron's face settled into a scowl. 

"Oh, I get it. You're just teasing us." Ron said this like he was a little disappointed that something exciting wasn't going to be happening after all. He threw himself in a chair and crossed his arms. His long legs stretched out in an ungainly manner before him and Cassie noted with interest the difference between him and Ginny. Sure, they both had the flaming red hair and ruddy complexion. But while Ron was tall and lanky, Ginny was more like the twins, smaller in stature but well built and muscular. Cassie was again struck by how beautiful Ginny's hair was and how it complemented her brown eyes.

  
  


"She's not teasing, Mr. Weasley. Miss Robinson is indeed going to be attending Hogwarts. But to answer your question, no, she did not just find out she is a witch. She is here now because her life is in danger and she needs somewhere to hide." 

"Oh." They all said it simultaneously, and then they all looked at each other and at Cassie and grinned. She smiled back. Harry looked worried, though, behind the smile.

"How is her life in danger? Who wants to hurt her? Is it Voldemort or is it just a Muggle thing?" He stopped, looking at Dumbledore for an explanation. 

"Why don't we sit down for a few minutes. I have some explanations to make and then some decisions have to be made. That is the purpose of this meeting." There were some chairs rearranged and one extra even drawn up for Remus but soon all six of them were sitting in front of Dumbledore's desk and he was sitting behind it, with his fingertips touching under his chin as he surveyed each of them in turn. "First of all, what is said in this meeting is absolutely top secret. If you spread this information about, it could mean Miss Robinson's life and that of her family. I trust you all. If I did not, you would not be here." Cassie noted that Harry looked even more concerned as Dumbledore said this. "I do not want to tell you the whole story tonight. It is a rather long story and I think Miss Robinson can fill you all in at another time. As it is, she is tired and needs to get to bed. The sooner we can get through the decisions that need to be made, the better in my opinion." He turned to Remus. "Why don't you briefly explain what happened yesterday?" 

Remus raised an eyebrow, apparently not pleased at being the one who had to tell the bad news. "I have been taking Cassie to Diagon Alley periodically as some of you might know." Cassie had certainly expected that at least Harry would know, but he looked as surprised as the rest of them that the visits were still happening. "When I took her yesterday, she got a little lost and wandered down Knockturn Alley. It was dark and she went into a store to ask directions." Cassie was surprised at the concern that filled each of the four faces. Apparently, it wasn't just Muggles that didn't belong down that street. She shuddered, remembering the horrible dark feeling of that street and the even stronger feeling of evil inside the actual shop. "When she was in there, she overheard a conversation that could be very incriminating for the wizards having it. It involves a plot to take over the Muggle government." There were various gasps and muted exclamations of surprise. "Unfortunately, she was discovered and seen. And even more unfortunately, the wizard who saw her recognized her." 

"What?" Harry practically jumped out of his chair at that. "Remus, I don't want to criticize you or anything, but she could . . ."

Cassie interrupted. "Don't blame Remus, Harry, please. It was my fault completely. I wandered off on my own. He just made it sound better than it was to avoid embarrassing me. But, really, it was all completely my own stupidity." Harry glanced at her and then sat back down. 

"All right. Sorry, Remus." 

"It's okay. I certainly do blame myself for a great deal of what has happened, despite what she says. Anyway, it just so happened that the wizard who saw her is her dad's boss." He paused again as the four students made various noises of shock and amazement. "He was fairly sure that it was her although he could not quite figure out how she came to be in Knockturn Alley. He chased her and she managed to escape thanks to quick feet and quick thinking by your brothers." He glanced at Ginny and Ron. "They hid her from Blackman and Malfoy and other dark wizards trying to catch her and would have undoubtedly killed her on the spot." 

"Malfoy!!!" Cassie winced as both Ron and Harry yelled the name together. She had seriously been hoping his name wouldn't come up until later. She knew that if they heard it, there would have to be yet another lengthy explanation about his presence. 

"Yes. He was there. He was the one threatening my dad's boss with Voldemort's displeasure. I recognized him through the door and that's why I even stayed a little longer to hear the conversation." Cassie bit her lip. "I was stupid but that's what happened." Harry scowled heavily. 

"So this Blackman and Malfoy are chasing after her?"

Dumbledore took over the story again. "Yes. And they asked all sorts of questions about her to her father the next day at work. We felt that she could not be at home any longer. We needed to hide her and this is the safest place we could think of. So, here she is. And she will stay here until another hiding place is available or until the plot is revealed and the schemers arrested." 

There was a stunned silence for quite a few moments. Finally, it was Hermione who asked the obvious question. "But, she's not a witch. How is she going to fool anyone?" Cassie had been wondering this herself. She somehow didn't think that just looking the part and waving her wand around a lot was going to help her out much. 

"I'm not going to class, Hermione. That would be too difficult." Cassie had decided from the first moment this plan had been revealed to her that there was no way she was going to actually attempt to do any magic. It was just ludicrous to even consider. She would just hide in her dorm room and pretend to have the flu. It was only for a few days, after all. 

"Wrong, Miss Robinson. You will be attending a full schedule of classes. In fact, you will be attending advanced classes for most of the days. You will be attending each and every class with Miss Weasley." Dumbledore was not smiling now. He was looking seriously at her, and Cassie felt her eyes widen in surprise. 

"What? But, that's impossible. The teachers would immediately figure out that I'm a . . .Muggle. It would never work." 

Hermione jumped into the conversation again. Both Ron and Harry seemed to be too dumbstruck to say anything. Ron's mouth was open again, and Harry looked like he was going to explode. Cassie noticed that Ginny grabbed his hand and was talking softly to him. He seemed to calm quickly after that and then Cassie tuned in to what Hermione was saying. 

" . . . . It's just not possible." The expression on the headmaster's face was still very stern but Cassie noticed for the first time that his eyes kind of sparkled and she had the impression that he was trying not to laugh. 

"I find the word impossible to be vastly overused, Miss Granger, especially if applied to anything that the four of you want to accomplish. And since this little adventure would require a significant amount of sneaking, lying, tricking, and general pulling the wool over your professors' eyes, you should all be ideally suited." Hermione scowled this time, like she was insulted, but Remus laughed loudly and that seemed to encourage the others to join in. Cassie wasn't sure what was so funny, but the humor of the situation was infectious and she found herself chuckling along with the others. "I'm not going to tell you how to do it, Miss Granger. I'm simply going to tell you that it has to happen. She will be with the 6th year Gryffindor girls in their dormitory. She will eat with them, visit with them, and blend into the scenery as much as possible. Tomorrow is Friday. Cassie will attend class first thing tomorrow morning with Miss Weasley." 

"But that's potions!" Ginny spoke up, now, slight panic in her voice. "It won't work, not at all. Snape would know immediately. You've got to tell him to go easy on her, at least." But Dumbledore was shaking his head. 

  
  


"No. No one can know beyond the boundaries of this room. Well, Arthur already knows of course, but he is not here at school. It is vital that it remain secret as we are unsure of who exactly is involved in this plot." Cassie saw Harry's features harden at those words and she wished she could ask what he was thinking about but she couldn't and then Dumbledore was speaking again. 

"We have a particular problem in the form of Mr. Malfoy as well." There was an instant hush in the room as if all good humor had just been sucked out by a powerful vacuum. "He has undoubtedly been told by his father of the situation and will be keeping his eyes open for anything suspicious." Dumbledore made this little announcement into an absolute dead still silence. 

"Well then, this definitely will not work. If he tells his father that a blond girl just suddenly appeared at Hogwarts, there is no way that he won't put two and two together. And she's not exactly inconspicuous. Plus, didn't you say they know her name?" This was Harry and he was looking somewhat relieved, like he had just exposed the major flaw in the plot and it would have to be abandoned. Dumbledore nodded. 

"Exactly. Again, I think that some solutions can be found, but we certainly are going to have to be creative." Abandoning the plot did not seem to be an option. 

"Well, what solutions?" Everyone looked at the headmaster, waiting for him to tell them what to do. 

"I think you need to come up with them on your own. You know the minds of the other students. Think about what story you would believe if a new student, a 6th year, suddenly showed up in the middle of the year. Think about how you can avoid making Mr. Malfoy suspicious. Think about how you can convince others that she is indeed a witch. I think that our seven bright minds assembled here can come up with some feasible ideas." 

"But certainly you've thought about all this!" Harry was looking quite panicked now and Cassie thought her face probably looked the same. She had expected that the entire plan would have been worked out already, not that she would have to figure out how to hide herself. It just wasn't possible. 

"Truthfully, Harry. I haven't. Time has been so very short. I have some thoughts of how it could possibly be done. But it's not me that has to be convinced. It's students your own age, students who think like you do. So, any ideas?" 

Hermione spoke up first. "Let's make a list of the things we need to decide and what story we agree on. That way, we won't forget anything and we can make sure that everything makes sense. Does anyone have any parchment?" A few minutes later, she was sitting, quill in hand, finishing a fairly long list and Cassie had a feeling that they were never going to be able to think of lies to fit each of these questions. And even if they did, she wasn't sure she could keep them all straight. Hermione considered the list. "I think that's everything. Let me read the list and see if anyone else has any ideas of something else. First, we need to decide why she is here and why she has never come to Hogwarts before now. We need to decide how much magical education she has had and who has taught her. We need to decide on her blood-line. We need to decide where she lives. We need to decide how she got placed in Gryffindor. We need to change her name. Anything else?" 

No one said anything for a long minute. Cassie said quietly, "I think we need to think of the reason I'm here first, that might help with the rest of the things." 

"Yes. That's a good point." Remus finally spoke. Cassie had forgotten he was in the room, he had been so quiet. "I think the war is the obvious answer. Something happened to her parents or something. . . ."

"I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, unless she's going to be blubbering all the time like she's remembering her poor dead parents, people are going to get suspicious." Ginny glared at Ron, apparently thinking that his comments were insensitive toward Harry. Ron didn't notice and Cassie laughed silently to herself. He sure seemed to go through life with blinders on to what anyone else thought - well, unless they hit him over the head with it. 

"He's right. I wouldn't blubber enough for them to be dead. Maybe hurt, though?" 

"They couldn't be in St. Mungo's, though. Everyone seems to know everyone in there all the time. People can be fooled but it's difficult." 

"Mr. Potter is right. It's too easy to check about patients in St. Mungo's." Dumbledore was leaning back in his chair, watching their discussion, and it made Cassie feel a little better that he was going to help even if he was not actively participating with any solutions at the moment. 

"What if my parents weren't dead, just moved?"

"Oooh, yeah. Like they'd been abroad or something, traveling a lot, and then the war made them decide to come back to help fight. They've got to be on our side, of course. Otherwise, it'd be hard for us to be friends with her." 

"That makes sense. Plus that story would make it hard to pin down any exact previous home address."

"And it would explain why she hasn't gone to Hogwarts or any other wizarding school, if they've been traveling a lot." 

"Her parents were teaching her at home." 

"We better say they were pretty bad teachers. It would explain why she can't do any magic." 

"No, Ron. We don't want to say that. She's got to be adequate at magic. Maybe not highly skilled but at least competent. Otherwise, she couldn't take advanced classes with Ginny." 

"So . . . what? They've maybe joined the Order or something and can't finish teaching her, so they sent her here to finish? That doesn't make much sense to me. Why not just finish teaching her later, after things have settled down?" Everyone nodded. Cassie looked out the window at the dark night and wished that she could think of something to help. Then she had a thought. 

"What if I've come because I'm related to someone who comes here and my parents felt I would be safe here? It's supposed to be really safe here, isn't it?" Cassie's voice sounded quite timid in the quiet and she kicked herself mentally. She needed to sound a lot more confident of herself if this was going to work. 

Everyone nodded. Hermione sucked on the end of the quill and thought. "Ginny. You can be Ginny's cousin. You guys have a huge family, don't you?" 

"Well, it's pretty decent-sized. Huge might be a bit of an exaggeration." 

"How many cousins do you have?" Harry asked, as if unsure he wanted to hear the answer. 

"Uh, for first and second cousins? On both sides of the family? I think about 120 or something." Everyone laughed, even Remus and Dumbledore. Cassie knew that both Harry and Hermione were only children. She had a bigger family, but 120 cousins! Was that even possible? She had quite a few cousins herself, but nowhere near that many. 

Ron spoke up, defending his family's honor. "Hey, we're trying to protect the wizarding world from extinction. Somebody has to do it!" 

"I'm surprised they have any time to do anything else."

"Oh, very funny, Harry!" There were more good-natured laughs. 

"Well, then who's to say you don't have a cousin exactly your age whose parents, at a loss of what to do with her now that they're actively fighting, uh, Voldemort, send her to be with Ginny? Especially, oh yes, especially if they haven't really found a place to live yet as things are so chaotic?"

"No one. It's entirely feasible." Ginny smiled. "Welcome to the family, Cassie. We don't have a lot of money but there's always room for one more." 

"There is one problem with her being a Weasley." Ron was smiling. "It's her hair. Almost all of us have red hair." 

"You mean in your cousins and everything?" Hermione looked shocked. "How is that possible?" Ron just shrugged, obviously unsure himself, but not thinking it was anything that unusual.

Dumbledore spoke again. "Hair is easy to color. We could do it magically for tonight, but a permanent dye is probably a safer way to go. I'll get some for you to use by tomorrow." Cassie looked at Ginny and Ron's hair and tried to imagine it on her own head. She wasn't sure she would like the way it looked. Dumbledore looked at the group. "I think that's a reasonable set of ideas. She's a Weasley family member, parents traveling abroad for years, teaching her magic themselves. She learns fairly well, although not brilliantly. Then, the war starts and they decide to come to Britain to help fight Lord Voldemort. However, concerned for their daughter's safety, they send her to Hogwarts to stay with her cousins until the immediate danger has passed. Yes, I think that sounds like something students would understand." 

They all sat quietly for a while, trying to decide if there were any flaws in this plan. No one, apparently, thought of any because after a time, Hermione started crossing off items from the list. "Okay, we've settled that. This works. Uh-huh. Oh, wait. Her blood-line. We didn't settle on that." 

"If she's in our family, she'd have to be pure-blood. I don't think we have any other kind of wizard related to us." 

"You've got to. Even Sirius had Tonks." 

"No. Honestly, Harry. I don't think we do." 

"It would be easier to say she was half and half. It would allow for some eccentricities, like if she says something wrong or doesn't understand something." 

"If you say she's half and half it will raise red flags with pure-bloods, Harry, like Malfoy. He knows. God, I hate to say it, but you know he's related to us somehow. He'd ask a million questions. She's just going to have to be pure-blood if she's related to us." 

"Does all this matter? Who's going to care?" Cassie thought this was a ridiculous conversation to be having. She felt a distant headache forming behind her left eye, and she was anxious to get decisions made so she could go to bed.

"Everyone will care. Everyone will ask. It matters." Hermione answered her and she looked vaguely upset. Cassie knew, of course, that Hermione was what wizards called Muggle-born. Did it matter that much? "So, pure-blood, then. Just a bit of a ditz?" Hermione got herself under control. 

"Hey, I resent that." Cassie tried not to let Hermione's comment hurt her feelings. She was accused occasionally of being a dumb blond, although once people got to know her, they realized that was patently untrue. Cassie was pretty positive she didn't want people thinking she was an idiot, even if when it came to magic she was. 

"No, Cassie. I don't mean I really think you are one. It's just that you're bound to say something wrong sometime. We need to have some excuse." 

"All right, I guess." 

  
  


"As for Gryffindor, let's just say she was sorted up in the office. If she's a Weasley, than her being in Gryffindor will not be unexpected." Everyone else nodded and Cassie decided not to ask what they meant. She didn't want to have to ask about every single thing. Only if it was really important. 

"Her robes are too new for our family, I'm afraid." Ginny was looking Cassie over critically.

"Oh, that's ridiculous. You can't all be . . . ." Hermione broke off in a bit of an embarrassed silence. Cassie watched Ron color a little. 

"No, just most of us. Seems to be a bit of a curse or something." Whatever it was they were talking about, Ginny seemed more comfortable with the idea than Ron. She didn't even look flustered during this brief exchange. 

"Well, then her father is an exception to the rule. It'll keep her from getting teased about one more thing." Hermione consulted her list once more. "I think we just need to decide on a name. It has to be one you will answer to without forgetting we're talking to you. Any ideas?" 

"Um, one. I don't know if it will do, but I'd answer to it naturally. My brothers call me Pia." She looked a little bit shyly around the room. It was such a strange name, one she really never used, but she was used to answering to it, and felt that it would be easier than making one up completely. Fortunately no one was laughing. 

"Yeah. That works. It's cute, but not so far out in left field that people wonder. I like it. Is it going to be Pia Weasley?" 

"No, no. I don't think so. That would mean she's related on my dad's side and it's more likely really to be on my mom's, now that I think about it. We don't have to say exactly, if we just pick a new last name for her. It makes it harder to trace anyway." 

"Good point, Ron." Remus said. "Think of something that's not too unusual, but not so common that people think you're making it up." No one volunteered anything for a minute. Finally, Harry said something and Cassie nodded in relief. 

"When I was hiding, I used Evans. It was my mum's maiden name. It made it easier to remember. What's your mum's maiden name, Cass . . . I mean, Pia?" 

"It was Spencer. I think that would work. Pia Spencer. Yeah. I like it." Everyone around the room nodded their agreement and Cassie noticed that Harry and Ginny were trying it out, seeing if they liked the sound of it. Harry grinned, and Cassie felt a spurt of happiness rush through her. This might work after all. 

Hermione finally said. "Okay, we all need to get in the habit of calling her Pia, even when we're alone. It's vital that no one get suspicious that her name isn't real." More nodding and apparently everyone was satisfied because Hermione waved her wand over the list and then folded it and tucked it into the pocket of her robes. "I've enchanted it so no one can see it but us. But we may need to refer to it later. I think we also need to avoid volunteering information about . . .Pia. It would be bad if our stories contradicted each other and someone got suspicious. I think that if someone asks you something, you should just say you don't know and then tell them to ask Pia herself." 

"Well, then. I think we're done here. Miss Spencer. I'm sure you're anxious to get up to your room. It's been a very long couple of days for you. There's just one thing - your hair."

Cassie watched with some trepidation as Dumbledore raised his wand to her. He didn't scare her, exactly, because she knew Harry trusted him. It was just that he was so powerful. Cassie knew he could do anything he wanted to her at that moment, and it was a bit disconcerting. Then he smiled down at her and she felt a little better. He flicked the wand, muttering something she couldn't understand, and then lowered it. "What do you think?" A mirror appeared on his desk and she bent down to see what she looked like. She smiled, surprised. She was just barely red-haired. Most of the blonde was still there, but there was a definite reddish tinge to it. Her mum called this color of hair strawberry blond and it looked fairly natural on her. 

Cassie thought it was pretty and she patted her hair rather self-consciously. "Will I fit in now with the Weasley clan?" Everyone nodded but then Ron brought up something of possibly even more importance.

"So, we've got her story all straightened out and now she looks the part, but I think we're overlooking one very major problem. When she points her wand at something, nothing is going to happen. She can't do that too many times without someone getting mighty suspicious." Cassie felt faint. He was right, of course. In the excitement of the other discussion, Cassie had forgotten one very basic point. The people in this school were going to expect her to be able to do magic. She looked with pleading eyes at the headmaster. He smiled faintly back at her. 

It was Hermione, though, who provided the answers. "I've got some ideas. I think it best we have a variety of things in our arsenal, so to speak, so that different situations can be handled in different ways." She didn't say anything else, though, and after about a minute of everyone staring at her, she said, "Well, I'm not going to tell you tonight. I want to think a few things over first. I want to see if some things are even going to be an option. I'll talk to Ginny and Cassie about these in the morning, boys. We'll let you know what we decide." 

"I think we were just effectively shut out, Harry." Harry raised an eyebrow.

"I'd have to agree. See, the problem, Ron, is that we are now outnumbered. There are three of them and only two of us." 

"Well, at least you know how I've felt all along, then, don't you?" Hermione shook her finger at them and everyone laughed. Cassie was reminded forcefully that the three of them, Hermione, Ron, and Harry had been an almost inseparable unit. Well, before Harry met her. And then there was Ginny who took her place. And now, they were opening their circle a little more for her once again. And she felt a sudden overwhelming sense of gratitude that they would let her be their friend. 


	9. Roommates

Chapter 9

Roommates

Harry and Ron picked up Cassie's trunk and carried it down the stairs for her. They exited from the door behind the gargoyle and she looked up and down the corridor. "I have absolutely no idea where I am. Is it easy to get lost here? There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the layout of the building." 

Everyone laughed at what Cassie thought was a perfectly legitimate question and she understood why a little later when the four of them started trying to describe how the castle functioned. "You have to understand, Pia, that the castle is magic. You can't approach it the same way you would a regular school."

Hermione interrupted Harry, "If you three would ever read Hogwarts: A History you wouldn't have as hard of a time understanding how it is laid out. It all made sense when the founders built it. It's been added to, of course, but there is logic . . ."

"Oh, Hermione. Stop it. Pia doesn't want to read that boring old book. So, let us give her the benefit of our experience rather than your dry dusty theories. Basically, you can never count on anything being in the same place twice, although the classrooms and things do tend to stay in the general vicinity." Cassie laughed at Ron, but when no one else reacted, she realized that he was being serious. "Also, the armor moves and the statues can move, although they're less likely to unless really provoked. And you can't really count on the pictures either because they can move into different frames and sometimes . . ."

"That's absolutely insane."

Harry continued where Ron left off. "Yeah. Plus the staircases move and you sometimes come out onto a totally different corridor than you think you will. Then there are trick steps that trap you . . ."

"Okay. So, what you're telling me is that I cannot leave Ginny's side because I will undoubtedly get lost and may never be found again." 

Instead of answering, though, Harry grunted as the trunk hit his shin once again as Ron shifted the weight. "Ron, be careful. I'm going to be black and blue before we even start up the steps."

"Boys?" Ginny sounded faintly amused. "Is there some particular reason you are not magicking the trunk up to Gryffindor tower? Because it looks kind of heavy and I'm thinking that since you are both wizards, there may be an easier way." The boys looked at each other and then down at the trunk. Then they both turned a quite interesting shade of red and set the trunk down. Ron grimaced and pulled his toe out from under his end. 

"Locomotor trunk" Harry said as he pointed his wand at the trunk and Cassie watched with interest as the trunk rose into the air and floated ahead of their little group. She repeated the word under her breath and fingered the wand she held in her hand. She thought about the word for a minute and was about to ask a question, when Hermione interrupted. 

"You can never actually get lost in Hogwarts, Pia. So you don't need to worry."

"What?" Ron was practically spluttering and Harry laughed which made his wand wiggle and the trunk took a dangerous dip toward the floor. "What are you on about, Hermione? Just last month Harry and I were lost for an hour . . ."

"Well, that's your own fault. If you'd read Hogwarts: A History years ago when I first told you to, you'd know the secret."

"What secret?"

"The secret which keeps you from getting lost, of course. Isn't that what we are talking about?" She had a rather smug little smile on her face and Cassie forced herself to keep her face impassive. It seemed to her that Hermione really enjoyed egging the boys on, but she didn't want to be in the middle of a fight, so she didn't join in the teasing. "Look, Ca . . . Pia. I think you can talk to the portraits. It seems that when you were here before you were able to." 

"Yeah. I think so." Cassie wondered how those words came out of her mouth. She was just agreeing that she could talk to paintings, no, not just talk to them, but speak with them. Okay. Reality was taking a very long vacation. 

"Well, watch this." Hermione approached a painting, an elderly woman who was sitting with a rather mangy-looking dog that (Cassie would have sworn) had a forked tail. "Excuse me. I've lost my way. Could you please tell me how to get to the Charms classroom?" The woman looked up squinted and stood. The dog dropped to the floor and growled rather menacingly and barked several times. Cassie backed up and vowed that she wouldn't ever approach that painting again. The dog seemed to be focusing most of its loud barking and growling her direction. But the elderly woman was speaking, now, and she listened. 

"You're on the completely wrong side of the castle. But go down this hall, descend two flights of stairs . . . ." Cassie didn't understand everything the woman said, but everyone else did, apparently, because both Harry and Ron were standing there with their mouths wide open and the trunk fell with a loud thud to the floor as Harry lost concentration and lowered his wand. 

"That's unbelievable. I can't believe you just did that." 

"All the portraits are charmed to know exactly where they are in relation to anything else in the castle at all times. It's a terribly complicated process, I can assure you, but valuable. Keeps students from getting lost." Hermione pivoted on one foot and continued walking toward Gryffindor tower. "Come on. We've only got a few more minutes until curfew." The boys followed in her wake, seemingly stunned speechless by Hermione's display. Cassie glanced at her watch. It was 9:15. That wasn't particularly late, but she was very tired and thought longingly of bed. She hoped the beds here were comfortable. She wasn't too optimistic. 

They seemed to have walked for miles and turned in complete circles several times before she saw anything that looked familiar and then suddenly they were stopping in front of a portrait of a very fat lady in a very ugly pink dress. Oh, yeah. They had to give some sort of password here. She remembered that last time it had been something that embarrassed Harry. She remembered suddenly and smiled to herself. They all looked at each other. 

"Pia, maybe you should give the password. It'll give you some practice." 

"Oh. Um. Okay. Vengeance -"

"No. That was a long time ago." Harry scowled and glared at Hermione. "I still can't believe you did that. The new password, Pia, is 'Jingle Bells.'" 

"Jingle Bells?" The portrait swung open and everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. The trunk went in through the hole first and then Harry, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and finally Cassie went to swing her leg up through the wall when the Fat Lady spoke up. "Your uniform says Gryffindor yet I'm sure I do not recognize you." 

"Yes. I'm new here." Cassie tried really hard to inject her voice with confidence, like she really belonged. "My name is Pia Spencer. I just started at Hogwarts and was sorted into this house. The Headmaster knows all about it, if my friends' word is not good enough evidence." 

The Fat Lady looked her over carefully. "All right then. I expect I will be told of your arrival through the regular official channels eventually. But for tonight, you are welcome." Cassie slid through, gratefully, trying to keep her robe down over her legs. She wondered how Hermione and Ginny had made it look so easy. The last time she had been here she was wearing jeans and it hadn't been a problem. This skirt and robes thing was going to take some getting used to. 

Cassie stood up, arranging her robes again and gripping her wand in sweaty fingers. She raised her head and looked tentatively around the room. She had been in here before, of course, and it looked the same. But this time, there were students in it and they were all looking at her very curiously. She gripped her wand tighter and tried to force her lips into a smile. Ginny and Hermione stood on either side of her and walked her over to the nearest little group of students. She was introduced, as Pia of course, and the students' names were told to her but she didn't absorb any of them. Ginny wisely didn't try to spit out the whole story, just said that Pia was her cousin and she would be attending school here from now on. Cassie thought that Ginny must have learned her skills in lying from her twin brothers, because people who are bad liars often try to give too much information at once and it is very easy to see through. No, Ginny was cool as a cucumber. Hermione didn't say anything, just let Ginny do all the introductions. 

There were probably 15 kids in the common room, not counting the five of them, and "Pia" met them all. She knew, though, that if she were to meet any of them again, she would hardly even remember seeing them, much less remember their names. Harry and Ron were now sitting on a very comfortable looking couch by the fire and Ginny and Hermione led Cassie over to it. Cassie's trunk was set next to the couch, awaiting her eventual trip up to her actual room. All three girls sat down and Cassie allowed herself to relax for the first time since they had left Professor Dumbledore's office. Ginny gave her an encouraging grin and leaned back against Harry. "Well, Pia. This is the common room, obviously. You have to be here by 9:30 each night as a 6th year or you can lose house points or get a detention if you're caught by Filch." 

"Filch? Who's he?"

"He's an unpleasant old squib who likes to make life as miserable as possible for the rest of us." 

"And his stupid cat, too." 

"Let's just say," Hermione interrupted the others' tirade. "Don't be out after curfew - well, unless you're with us, of course. Then you don't have to worry. I really wouldn't want you to get detention." The four were all silent for a few moments and Cassie had a niggling feeling of fear pass through her. What happened at detention? Did they whip you or something? All of that seemed quite a likely possibility, considering that this common room was lit with torches. But before she could ask, Ron jumped in. 

"So, Hermione. Ca . . . Pia's got Snape first thing in the morning. What ideas have you got to help her pretend she can do magic?" 

"I don't want to tell you about them right now. I'm going to the library in a minute to look up a few things. Harry, can I use your cloak?" Harry nodded and Hermione continued. "But I am wondering, Ron. Remember that sampler pack the twins sent you at the beginning of the year?" Now Ron nodded. "Have you still got it, because I think some of those items could be very helpful." Ron's eyes lit up with an interesting light that Cassie didn't want to analyze. It was almost scary.

"Yeah. I've got it. Only used a few things so far. I'm sure they'd send another." 

"Don't ask them to. I'll purchase you a new one myself." Cassie interrupted then, curious.

"What's in the sampler pack?" 

"Oh, all sorts of stuff. See, the twins . . ." Cassie hated to even think it, but Hermione sounded just a little condescending, like she couldn't possibly understand the complexity of the twins' magic. 

  
  


"I know George and Fred. I've actually spent time in their store and I've seen quite a few of their products. So I'm not completely ignorant." Hermione looked a little taken aback at the vehemence of Cassie's statement.

"I didn't know you knew them." 

Cassie was about to explain about how she had come to know them when the portrait hole opened and another student slipped into the common room. He looked vaguely familiar although Cassie couldn't put a name to his face. Harry called out to him. "Hey, Neville. Come here. We want to introduce you to someone." The boy was pleasant looking, round faced and smiling. Neville. Okay. Maybe she could remember that at least. The introductions were made and Cassie stood up to shake his hand. 

He grinned engagingly at her and Cassie smiled back. "So, you're going to be in sixth year, huh?"

"Yeah."

"Maybe we'll have some classes together. And if you need any help with anything, I'd be happy to help you." Cassie tried to extricate her hand from his but he seemed to grip it even tighter. She definitely would not need tutoring but she didn't know how to tell him that. 

"Thanks, um, Neville. I appreciate it. I'll keep it in mind." The boy smiled shyly at her. He left quickly a moment later. All five of them sat quietly for a second. Then, Hermione filled the silence. 

"Um, Pia? Don't ask anyone to help you in your classes, okay?" Cassie couldn't help it. She giggled. 

"No worries there. I'd be in serious trouble, wouldn't I?" That seemed to break up the tense mood and they all stood, ready to go up to bed. Cassie followed the other two girls and she was halfway to the staircase when Harry called her back. 

"Pia. Come here for a second, would you?" Cassie was a little unsure what he had to say to her. She stepped back to Harry. "You forgot two things." He held out his hand and Cassie saw her wand. "That's the first." He pointed down at her trunk. "There's the second." 

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Ginny had stepped up behind her. 

"Ooh. That could be bad. You've got to keep that with you all the time." Her voice was low but intense. Hermione, sensing that something more was happening, walked back over to the little knot of people. 

"What's going on?"

"Pia forgot her wand on the couch."

"Oh. You've got to keep that with you. No real witch would leave her wand, ever."

"But where do I keep it? I . . . It seems awkward." 

"There are two small pockets in your robes. One here and one here." Hermione indicated two narrow deep pockets in the robe that Cassie had not even noticed. One was inside the front of the robe, accessible if the buttons at the top of the robe were undone. The second was inside the left sleeve, designed so that it could be pulled out with the student's right hand at a moment's notice. Cassie slipped her wand into the pocket in the sleeve, pleased at how easy it was. 

"Oh. That's ingenious. That makes it a lot easier." 

"If you're not wearing your robes, you can just keep it in a pocket or something." Cassie smirked at that comment. 

"Yeah. Or in the front of your pants, if that's the best you can do." 

Harry laughed, rather loudly, and was shushed by Hermione as the remaining students in the room turned to look at them curiously. 

  
  


"Come on. Let's get to bed. Pia's got to be exhausted." She was, actually, and the thought of bed was very enticing. The two couples kissed briefly while Cassie stared into the fire, feeling her face flame a little as she thought of Ginny and Harry kissing. She had seen them before, of course, and been happy for it. But this was different. She would be watching them for the next few days at least and since several months had passed they would probably be much more physical than they had been those first few tentative touches that she had seen when she had been at Hogwarts in June. It wasn't that she was jealous, not really. It was just sort of strange. To see a boy she had kissed so passionately now kissing someone else. She hoped that Ginny would not be threatened by her. That might make things sort of difficult. She stood for a while, almost afraid to turn around. Then Harry stepped behind her. She knew it was him because he smelled . . . like Harry, familiar and comforting in this new place. His hands were on her shoulders then and he turned her to face him. She looked up into his concerned expression. She didn't wait for him to speak.

"I'm all right, Harry. I am. Don't worry." But, of course, he would. Because that was the Harry thing to do. She smiled up at him. "I'd hug you, but people might think that was rather strange . . . if we'd just met today, I mean." He nodded.

"You'd better get up to bed before you simply fall over. Tomorrow . . . will be difficult, I imagine. You need your rest." This was spoken in a quiet voice, one that did not carry beyond her. Then he took two steps back and spoke loudly enough that everyone in the room who cared to listen could hear him. "It's nice to meet you, Pia. I hope that you have as great of a time here at Hogwarts as we have always had. Don't hesitate to ask for help from anyone in Gryffindor." She smiled broadly, in case anyone was looking although she didn't think anyone was. 

"Thanks. I appreciate it." She glanced down at her trunk. She wasn't sure what to do now. Hermione stood next to her for a minute, and took a deep breath.

"Showtime." Ginny smiled faintly. 

"I'm ready." 

"Okay. Point your wand at the trunk and say 'Locomotor trunk.' Then start walking toward the stairs, slowly and keep your wand pointed at the trunk. We'll take care of the rest." Cassie removed her wand from her sleeve and did as Hermione said. She blinked in vague surprise as the trunk rose from the floor and proceeded ahead of them, just as it had in the corridor - once Harry and Ron remembered that they could use magic in front of her now. She knew that she really was not moving that trunk, but the illusion was so complete that she was almost tempted to wiggle her wand and see if the trunk responded. She resisted. Ginny had her hand in the pocket of her robe and Cassie knew without being told that it was Ginny doing the magic. Hermione was talking, about nothing in particular, waving her wand around in rather grand circles, as though to prove to anyone who happened to be looking at their little parade that it was not her doing this particular spell. 

They continued up the stairs, slowly, but without fear. They were the only three on the stairs at this moment and though Ginny continued moving the trunk and Cassie kept her wand pointed at it, their conversation was light and Hermione had stopped waving her wand at all. "Let's meet before breakfast, Ginny. I'll go over the ideas I've got then. Maybe not all of them, but at least how I think you can get through potions." Ginny nodded and Cassie was awfully grateful that she had Hermione on her side. Harry had said she was the most clever witch at Hogwarts and Cassie hoped this was true, because the next few days would certainly require a lot of work from all of them. Cassie's leg muscles were burning by the time they reached the sixth-year floor. They really needed to invent some sort of lift. Maybe broomsticks or something. When she had been here before, the sign had said fifth years, but Cassie knew it was the same room. Ginny opened the door and the trunk floated through it and was set down at the foot of a bed. Cassie assumed that Ginny would know which bed was going to be hers, so she lifted her wand and slipped it into the pocket in her sleeve like she had done that 100 times a day for years. Ginny winked. 

"Great. The bed looks comfortable." Cassie glanced around the room. It looked a lot different than it did the last time she had been here because the girls were here. There were a number of posters around the room, including one of a unicorn that reminded Cassie of the one that hung in her own room. Of course, this one moved and was obviously a real photograph. There were also some pictures of good-looking guys smiling and waving, with flashy wizard robes open enough to allow Cassie a glimpse of their bare chests. She wondered vaguely if these were rock stars or something. 

Ginny watched Cassie look around and didn't interrupt. Finally their eyes met again and Cassie flushed at Ginny's knowing look. "Let me introduce you to my roommates, well, your roommates, too, now I guess." Cassie looked around again at the other beds. There were five beds in the room, and three of them had girls sitting on them, looking at both her and Ginny with undisguised curiosity. "Girls, this is Pia Spencer. She's my cousin and she'll be attending school with us here starting tomorrow. She's a sixth year and I hope you'll all welcome her. Pia, these are your new roommates. That's Saffron Nightscall, Elspeth McCrae, and Rhiannon Bowen." Ginny indicated the three girls in turn, each of whom smiled and raised their hand in greeting until she got to Rhiannon, who smiled broadly but didn't wave. 

"We knew someone new was coming. The bed was here tonight when we came up an hour ago or so." Cassie didn't understand what she meant but she didn't ask. Rhiannon was busy doing something on the surface of her bed. I'm painting my nails, Gin. I want you to do that charm on them for Saturday's Quidditch match." 

"Oh, sure. But not tonight, certainly. It's too noisy for class." 

"Yes, do them tonight. It'll drive all the teachers nuts, but I've got double Charms tomorrow with the Hufflepuffs and it'll bother them even more." All of the girls laughed. 

"What charm is she doing?" Cassie got brave and asked, figuring it would be natural to find out.

"She's putting a Gryffindor lion on each nail. Watch. It's really incredible." The girl waved her wand over her bright red nails, using one hand and then the other, drying them instantly Cassie surmised as she screwed the top back on the small bottle of polish without the usual stiff-fingered, afraid-I'll-smudge-this maneuvers that Cassie had to do when she painted her fingernails and replaced the top. Ginny stepped close to the girl, smiling, evidently agreeing with her that this would be very funny. 

She pulled her wand out of her pocket and pointed it at the Gryffindor lion on the badge of the girl's robes. She muttered a word that Cassie couldn't catch and then pointed down at the first red surface. Suddenly, a small copy of the lion appeared on the nail. Ginny did it nine more times. Rhiannon looked critically at the nails. "That looks really good. You're so great at that. You really need to help me practice. Mine always look sloppy." 

"You rush too fast. That's the problem. Are you sure you really want to do this tonight? You might get detention." 

"Yes. Do it. I can always silence it if I need to." 

"Ennervate, then." The wand waved and suddenly there was a muted roaring. Cassie's eyes grew huge and she blinked, trying to hide her obvious surprise. The lions were now moving and roaring, all in sync, but she thought she had never seen anything that incredible. The other girls inspected the nails and Cassie got to look really closely at them. 

"Let's all do it. We can paint them tonight and get the transfers even if we just leave them silent until Saturday morning," the girl named Saffron suggested and was met with enthusiastic agreement. Even Cassie, who a few minutes before had been longing for nothing more than to slip under the covers of her new bed, found herself caught in the excitement. She had no bright red nail polish but all the other girls did and they shared with her happily, telling her that she'd have to get some soon as it was a requirement for all the Gryffindor girls but Ginny just smiled and said Pia could use hers. 

As they painted, they talked and Cassie came to the conclusion that girls were girls, no matter where they were or what they were. Questions like "So, Pia. What brings you to Hogwarts in the middle of the year?" soon gave way to "Have you met any boys here yet?" Cassie laughed, saying that she had only been here for a little more than three hours and some of that was spent in Dumbledore's office. "And he's a little old for me." That was met with loud guffaws and Cassie felt quite pleased that she had made them laugh. 

"But seriously . . ." Saffron asked, looking carefully at her nails as Ginny worked doing the transferring. 

"No. Well, I met someone named Neville. And Harry Potter."

"And Ron, then?"

"Well, Ron's my cousin. I've met him before." Cassie congratulated herself on how casual she sounded in this lie. 

"Ooh, yeah. I forgot. I guess you won't be chasing him then." Cassie was kind of surprised. Certainly they knew about Ron and Hermione. 

"I think Ron's already been caught. Same with Harry Potter." She smiled over at Ginny. "I wouldn't dream of stealing my cousin's boyfriend out from under her nose. Bad for family reunions. Are there any cute boys around here, who aren't already spoken for, I mean?" 

Ginny was now standing in front of her, discreetly waving her wand to dry the nails before she began the laborious process of copying the lion. 

"Well, Neville's not bad. Dean Thomas is cute." 

"I think he's dating Pavarti." 

"It's not serious, though. Pia could make a move." 

"Colin Creevey is cute." Cassie started a little. She had met him. He was the photographer whose pictures she had looked at now for so many months. He was cute but this comment had been made with quite a touch of wistfulness by Elspeth, who was laying back on her bed with her lion-tipped fingers crossed over her stomach. 

"Yes, he is." Saffron agreed. "But he's Muggle-born. Your parents would have a fit if you even thought about dating him." 

"Maybe. But I don't have to worry. I don't think he knows I'm alive." 

Saffron looked rather slyly out the corner of her eye at Pia. "Would your parents let you date a Muggle-born?" 

"Uh, the question's never come up. I don't think they'd worry too much about it, though." That was true. 

"So what are you anyway?" Cassie stared at the girl with the black hair and bright black eyes. Had she missed something?

"What?"

  
  


"What are you - blood wise?" 

"She's pure-blood, of course, Saffron. And you know it since she's my cousin. Stop baiting her and embarrassing her." Ginny had finished and Cassie stared unseeingly at the 10 beautiful miniature lions that now graced her red nails. Hermione had been right about people asking. She wondered what these girls would think if they knew she was actually a Muggle. She doubted that they would be smiling and teasing her gently about which boys she wanted to date. 

"Well that's good, then. You can have the pick of any boy you want. There are some cute ones in Slytherin but they only date pure-bloods. Of course, you're a Weasley, which may -"

"Saffron! Enough!" Ginny's face was almost as red as her fingernails. "Pia's tired. I'm exhausted. I'm going to get ready for bed. I've got potions first thing in the morning and I really don't want to fall asleep. Snape would give me detention for a month." There was a low chuckle through the room and the momentary tension that had been there dissolved. Ginny opened her trunk and pulled out - Cassie couldn't believe it - a once-bright green shirt that looked like it had seen many a washing. It had been months and she was still wearing Harry's shirt. She smiled to herself but then followed Ginny's lead and opened her trunk to find her flannel nightgown. She felt a little self-conscious stripping off her clothes in front of these strangers, but the other three girls were involved in their own talking and weren't looking at her at all. She hurriedly grabbed her wand and put it on the bedside table like Ginny had done. Then she hurriedly removed her robes and started unbuttoning her blouse. She had it all the way off and was about to start on her bra when she looked up and one of the wizard posters on the wall caught her eye. He was a good-looking man, she thought idly, though he'd be even cuter with bright red hair. Then he winked and gave a sly smile at her and Cassie jumped about a mile. She grabbed her blouse and held it instinctively in front of her, trying hard not to yell, and backing carefully over to Ginny. 

"He winked at me! He can see me! How am I supposed to undress in here?" Ginny looked momentarily confused at her panicked whisper. Then realization dawned as she followed Cassie's gaze over at the wall. 

"Oh, don't worry. Anything in a bedroom has to be specially charmed."

"Charmed? How charmed?"

"They can't look any lower than your face. Don't worry." 

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Go on." The other three girls had stopped their conversation and were staring with curiosity at Pia.

"Is something wrong, Pia?" 

"No. I just remembered that I told my mum I'd owl her once I got here and I forgot. But I think I'll just do it in the morning. I'm beat." She shuffled back over to where she had left her nightgown and bravely dropped her shirt, removed her bra, and slipped the flannel nightgown over her head before she removed her skirt and socks. She braved a look at the poster again, but he just winked one more time and she shuddered. This was going to take some getting used to. 

Ginny spoke suddenly before Cassie could ask the next obvious question. "Just put them on the floor by your trunk. The elves will take care of them tonight." Cassie didn't know what she meant but then saw Ginny putting her dirty clothes into a small pile at the foot of her bed and followed suit. Cassie slid gratefully into the bed a few moments later, after Ginny had taken her to the toilet where Cassie brushed her teeth and washed her face. She was grateful when she entered the toilet that it looked perfectly normal and that no magic seemed to be required to take care of this sort of thing. That could have been extremely awkward. There were regular handles and faucets on the sinks, too. Plus, she could see herself in the mirror. She seemed to vaguely remember that sometimes something magical couldn't see themselves in a mirror but she was too tired now to remember what it was. 

Despite her rather dire predictions, the bed was actually extremely comfortable and the sheets felt soft against her skin. They were cool but warmed quickly once she was in them. Ginny showed her how to draw the hangings around the bed to block out the light from the others' lamps and a moment later Cassie was lying in the silent darkness. She looked up at the canopy over her four-poster bed and thought for a minute about everything she had seen and done already. It was not going to be a boring few days, that was certain. Then she couldn't help it and she didn't want to fight it anymore. She was just too tired to even try. She curled up in a small ball in the corner of her bed and cried herself to sleep. 


	10. Breakfast and Owl Post

Chapter 10

Breakfast and Owl Post

Cassie stirred in her sleep, stretching contentedly in the warmth of her very comfortable bed. Her little brother Matthew was so dead -- when she woke up she was going to kill him slowly for bothering her this morning. But since he didn't shut up after a minute, even when she told him to go away, she cracked open one eye. She was surprised because it was still dark. What time was it? She stretched again, turning to see her bedroom clock. It wasn't there and she felt a moment's panic with the disorientation that suddenly swamped her. She closed her eyes again, thinking that maybe she was just having a bad dream. But that annoying boy was still calling to her. Finally, she just had to answer him. "Tell Mum I'll be out in a few minutes," she sleepily mumbled. Cassie was brought out of her lazy slumber with another shock as the curtains to her bed were pulled back and she heard Ginny's urgent tone. 

"Pia! You need to get up now or we'll be late."

Cassie's stomach did somersaults and her pulse quickened as she remembered where she was. She was at Hogwarts and she was trying to masquerade as a witch. Was she out of her mind? Were Dumbledore, Remus and her other friends out of their minds? She was suddenly terrified. This entire scheme was beyond insane. She started to tell Ginny this, tell her to take her to Dumbledore's office so that she could go back home. But Ginny threw her bathrobe at her and told her one more time to hurry. "We've got to meet Hermione in about 45 minutes downstairs. We're not going to make it if we don't hurry." Cassie thought that sounded a bit unrealistic. How long did it take to hop in the shower and then throw on her school robes? It wasn't like she had to spend a lot of time picking out her wardrobe after all. Another thought followed quickly on that one's heels, though, and she resignedly pulled her bathrobe on over her flannel nightgown, insulating herself against the cold that was now invading the warmth of her bed. Who knew how hard it would be to take a shower here? The wizards seemed to live with a strange combination of modern conveniences and ancient traditions. She hoped the plumbing was more on the modern side but she wouldn't be terribly surprised if she had to pump her own water out of some well, break the ice off the top, and hold her breath as she scrubbed her back with the resulting cold water. So, if Ginny said they needed to hurry, then they'd better do so. 

They hurried down one level to the showers. "The seventh year girls have their own bathroom, but the fourth, fifth, and sixth years share this one" Ginny was explaining. "So there are about -" and then suddenly they were there and the door swung open and Cassie wondered if she had just stepped into an insane asylum "-15 of us in here all at once" Ginny finished with a faint smile at the look of shock on Cassie's face. Cassie was an only girl in her family and had grown up having the use of her own private bathroom. She suddenly realized why Ginny was rushing her so fast. There was a line for the showers, girls three deep trying to get their makeup on at the mirrors, and so much steam, chaos, and noise that Cassie couldn't believe it. They stepped onto the tiled floor and Cassie smiled to herself. Well, at least she wouldn't be pulling ice water out of some well. It was obvious that the showers were hot from the clouds of steam rolling off them and being added to the already heavy fog of the room. After putting down her bag, she and Ginny joined the shorter of the three queues. They leaned against the wall and Cassie wished they had a little more privacy so she could ask about today's classes at least, but that conversation needed to be out of earshot of all these girls. 

Finally, it was Cassie's turn and she stepped into the shower, grateful that the faucets looked like standard type that her parents had in their bathroom. The water was hot and plentiful. When she had gotten her bathrobe back on and wrapped her hair in a fluffy towel, she exited the shower a few minutes later. Ginny stepped in behind her, saying, "Go on over to a sink and stake us out a spot. I'll be done in a minute." Cassie looked over at the row of sinks lining a far wall. The crowd had diminished a little for the mirror and she was able to find a nice looking sink with a shelf above it to hold their odds and ends. Cassie reached into her bag and glanced instinctively at the walls around the mirror. Where was the nearest plug? If there wasn't one nearby, she would have to change locations. Then she suddenly remembered. No plugs. No electricity. She reluctantly covered her blow dryer back up at the bottom of her bag. Great. Now she'd have wet hair for most of the day. It always took hours for her hair to dry if she didn't give it a good head start with the blow dryer. She started brushing her teeth, studying the other girls as covertly as she could while she waited for Ginny to come out of the shower. 

Then she saw something and she knew that she was doomed. This would never work. There was a petite brown-haired girl at the sink next to hers that had pulled her wand out of the pocket of her bathrobe and pointed it at her head. She muttered some sort of spell and Cassie heard the soft whoosh of air. Oh. Cassie grimaced. She hadn't even brought hers down with her. She had never expected that she would have to use the stupid thing to blow dry her hair! Ginny joined her at the sink a moment later and Cassie looked at her, wondering if she had any great ideas of what she should do now. Ginny had her own wand, of course, and pulled it out of her pocket. She must have caught the look on Cassie's face. "I didn't bring it down with me. I didn't think I'd need it in the shower. Plus, to be honest, I just forgot." Ginny smiled. 

"That's all right. I think we can manage." Ginny hurriedly dried her own hair and Cassie watched as Ginny muttered various words under her breath as she pulled the heavy weight of her hair off her neck and curled small tendrils of it to frame her face. "There. All done." 

"Wow." That was all Cassie could think to say. It was incredible that Ginny used her wand for blow drying her hair and curling it as well as everything else she undoubtedly used it for during the day. She had a momentary stab of envy at the fact that Ginny could use magic. How wonderfully handy it would be. Then she turned her own attention back to the long mass of wet hair that hung down her back and wet her bathrobe as Ginny closed her own bag and turned to face Cassie. 

"All right, Pia. Let's see what we can do here." Ginny muttered the spell that Cassie had now heard three times and she felt the soft blow of air against her face. Ginny helped Cassie dry her hair which caused quite a few of the girls in the bathroom to look at the two of them rather strangely. Ginny just explained as briefly as possible. 

"This is my cousin, Pia. She's new at Hogwarts. She forgot to bring her wand down from the room."

Cassie gave an embarrassed grin. "Silly me. I won't do that again. I thought we'd go up there to do our hair and stuff."

Several of the girls gave friendly smiles, even coming over and introducing themselves which made her feel a little better. "We'll just come down earlier in the mornings, maybe we can beat the rush. Then I can dry your hair without everyone wondering why you aren't doing it yourself." Cassie tried not to think how early that meant they'd be getting up. If that is what she needed to do, then she'd do it. After all, Ginny was right there beside her. 

When her hair was dry, Cassie pulled it back from her face with some combs, admiring the soft strawberry color that her hair was now. She remembered that they were going to have to dye her hair tonight. She hoped that it looked as good afterward. Ginny's roommates had come in and Cassie watched Elspeth as she chatted with another girl whose name Cassie could not recall. "She's really pretty."

"Elspeth? Yeah. I think all of my roommates are, though. I'm really the odd woman out, so to speak." 

"What?" Cassie's attention was suddenly focused completely on Ginny. "What do you mean by that?" 

"Well, I've long since accepted that I'm no stunning beauty." Ginny smiled broadly but Cassie thought that behind the smile, there was a bit of sadness.

"I disagree, Ginny. You've got beautiful features. It's just . . . do you ever wear makeup?" Cassie thought that Ginny might look a little older if she used a bit of color on her face and that was probably all she really needed. 

Ginny flushed. "No. I . . . I've never really learned how. I'm not sure it would help much anyway." 

"Do you have any foundation?"

Ginny shook her head. "No, it's too expensive. My mum, well . . ." Her color raised another notch and Cassie felt bad she had embarrassed her friend. 

"Here, I think our skin is close enough in tone that you could probably use mine." They spent quite a few minutes as Cassie helped Ginny even out her skin tone and then helped her further with a soft shade of blush she had in her makeup bag. She then loaned her some eye shadow, commenting that it would accentuate Ginny's brown eyes. Ginny knew a spell to darken her eyelashes and did it for Cassie also. By the time they left the bathroom, Ginny was smiling at the transformation she saw in the mirror. 

"I look a lot different." 

"Not so different. Just a little, um, more put together. You look great. Harry will notice and be impressed, I bet." Ginny was practically glowing in anticipation of Harry's reaction. Cassie thought to herself how beautiful Ginny looked with her vibrant red curls and twinkling brown eyes. She really sold herself short if she didn't think she was pretty. 

They hurried and threw on their school robes and then Ginny helped Cassie pack her book bag, making sure that she had her wand as well as parchment and a quill and a bottle of ink. Cassie shook her head. "I don't think I can use that quill. You may as well not bother to put it in there." She hadn't been reassured when Ginny had insisted. 

"You'll need it for notes. Trust me." Cassie threw the surprisingly heavy bag over her left shoulder a few minutes later and they climbed down the staircase to get to the common room. As Cassie had expected, they found the other three friends pacing back and forth impatiently in the commons room. They looked up with a mixture of relief and frustration at the two sixth-year girls and Cassie apologized. 

"I had a bit of a problem in the showers. We'll get an earlier start next time." Harry gave Ginny a quick kiss and then stepped back from her and took another, longer look at her face. He commented on how beautiful she looked. Ginny beamed and gave Cassie a sideways glance and smile. Cassie smiled and felt like maybe she had made at least a little contribution to help her friend. All four of them then turned and looked at Hermione expectantly.

"All right. Here is a copy of Ginny's and Pia's schedule." Hermione handed out parchment copies of what looked like a fairly full class schedule. Cassie took hers gladly. She had absolutely no idea what sort of classes she would be expected to take here. The only thing she knew was that Potions was first and no one seemed to think that class would be very fun for her. She looked at the schedule. It was like none she had ever seen before. She had a wide variety of classes and the names were all strange and unusual. And she had no idea what she would be expected to do in any of them. They were all colored and she supposed this was Hermione's way of sorting the classes. There was some sort of key underneath the squares but before she could really figure out what they meant, Hermione started explaining and Cassie decided it would be easier to listen than to figure it out by herself. 

"I have broken the classes into three categories of magic use, each of which is represented by a different color - red, yellow, or green." The boys were snickering behind their hands and Cassie felt a spurt of irritation. It was her tush on the line here, after all. But then she remembered that Harry had told her that summer about how Hermione always color coordinated their testing study schedules and realized this was probably the boys' usual reaction forged by long exposure to Hermione's rather compulsive ways. She tried to relax and listened again to Hermione. "Green is the best - that means no magic is required in those classes at all. For example, Care of Magical Creatures." Cassie's eyes flew over the paper, trying to figure out when she had that class (which sounded like a lot of fun), but Hermione was continuing with her discussion and Cassie decided that she could look later when she had some time. "Yellow is intermediate. In other words, some magic may be required but Cassie can probably fake it. One example of this is Firenze's Divination class. Didn't you say, Ginny, that sometimes you have to magically levitate stars and move planets around and things?" Ginny nodded and Cassie wondered what the heck the two of them were talking about. "Then, of course, that only leaves red - I call that the 'We're in big trouble' category. In these classes, you will definitely need magic, powerful magic. And it would be really conspicuous if you either didn't do it or couldn't do it. Potions is one example, of course." Oh, great, Cassie thought with frustration. The first class of her first day was a "We're in big trouble' class. She really wished that she could hide in her dorm room for the entire day. Maybe Monday would be easier. Before she could really look at what torture was scheduled for Monday morning, Hermione was handing out another piece of parchment. 

"Look at this and then hand them back. We can't have them getting lost. I'll destroy them all once we've discussed the information." Cassie looked with interest at this sheet. It was titled "Ways to fake Pia's magic" and Cassie read over the items quickly. Some of them didn't make much sense to her, but everyone else murmured their agreement. "The main thing we have to worry about is coordinating Pia's need for the magic with our ability to provide the fake-out method. So we'll need careful coordination. And then, Pia, here is our ace in the hole." Hermione handed over four very small boxes. Cassie looked at them and blanched. She recognized them. 

"I don't know, Hermione . . . Do I have to?" Hermione nodded. 

"You know what they are, then?" 

"I think so. Tell me again, though." In her hand were four of George and Fred's two-wand school specials - something called Skiving Snackboxes. All she knew about them was they made you horribly sick. And although right now her stomach was jumping so much that she thought she probably didn't need help with the puking part, she remembered something about nosebleeds on the packaging also. 

"They're actually brilliant - Fred and George's greatest idea ever, if you ask me; although, I would never tell them that. You eat one side of the candy, the dark side of each, and it makes you look really sick. You either faint, puke, get a nosebleed, or develop a really high fever. That gets you out of class almost immediately. Then when you are out of the classroom, or back in the dorm or whatever, you eat the pale side of the same candy and that fixes your problem. The teachers might be suspicious but as there is no way to really tell what made you sick they basically have to let you out." Cassie nodded, seeing how useful this could be if she got in a tight spot. Then she felt a sudden rush of panic.

"Uh, will this work for me? I mean, what if I use one of them and then I can't stop bleeding or vomiting since I can't do magic? I could die." She looked around the group and her eyes narrowed. "Stop laughing Ron. It isn't funny. How would you like to be vomiting until you drop over?" With that, Ron laughed harder and Hermione gave him a quick jab in his ribs with her elbow. Ron moaned and rubbed his side but at least he stopped laughing. 

Hermione continued. "That's what's brilliant about these. They'll work for anyone. You shouldn't have any problem. There are several of each kind in these boxes, certainly enough to get you through the next couple of weeks or more. If you get put in a position where you absolutely are stuck - either do magic or die, use one of these." Cassie sighed to herself. They would probably be helpful, she had to admit. She just hoped that she never had to use them. She looked over the schedule again and noticed that one class was not color-coded at all. There was a big yellow star on it each time and she had it three times. She didn't even know what class it was for sure, there were only letters rather than actual words on each square. 

"Um, Hermione, what is DADA? And why is it starred rather than colored?"

"Oh, yeah. Good question. That's kind of an interesting situation. I think we should . . . ." But then she had to stop because several more students entered the common room and some looked curiously at their little group. Hermione quickly gathered up the second parchment she had handed out from each of them and stuffed them into a very full looking book bag. Hermione pretended she had just finished telling a very amusing anecdote, laughing rather loudly and everyone else joined in. "So, anyway, Pia. That's the story." They all stood as though to leave and Cassie felt her panic renew itself in her stomach. Breakfast and then what almost everybody seemed to think would be the worst class of the week - Potions. It may very well be that the entire plot would be exposed within two hours. She hoped not. She owed it to her parents and brothers as well as to Remus and Arthur to do her best to keep up the pretense as long as possible. She took a deep breath. It was going to take every bit of acting ability she had to get through this morning. She hoped she had it in her. Then they were out of the portrait hole and Cassie plastered a smile on her face. Today was going to be a very interesting day. 

When they entered the Great Hall, the five went straight to the Gryffindor table where they began to dish eggs, bacon, and sausages onto their plates. Cassie was too nervous to eat much so settled for toast. She was pleased to see they offered wheat toast. As she nibbled at the crust, she looked across the table at the three boys eyeing her with interest. Neville smiled and said hi. She smiled back and asked him if he could pass the pumpkin juice. He promptly reached down the table, took the pitcher and started to hand it to Cassie. The tall black boy sitting next to Neville took the pitcher, though, much to Neville's displeasure, and handed it to Cassie with a big smile. Cassie felt herself flush a little. 

"Hi. I'm Dean Thomas. I guess you already know Neville."

Cassie smiled at him. She remembered Rhiannon commenting on Dean Thomas's good looks the night before and quietly agreed with her. "I'm Pia Spencer. I'm new here at Hogwarts." The young man sitting on Dean's other side also smiled at Cassie and introduced himself in a strong Irish brogue.

"Hi. My name's Seamus Finnigan. I understand you're Ron and Ginny's cousin." Cassie fought hard to hold back an actual laugh and allowed only a slight grin and a sideways glance at Harry who was snickering into his cup of hot chocolate. Both obviously remembered her comments about Seamus Finnigan being a silly name when she thought he had made it up during his stay in London a few months before. 

"It's really nice to meet both of you. And it was nice meeting you last night, Neville." Neville blushed with pleasure and the other two smiled back. The next few minutes were filled with eating, small talk, and introductions to other Gryffindors whose names Cassie knew she wouldn't remember the next time they met. Various students looked up at a rush of wings as the morning owl post arrived and a flurry of Daily Prophets, packages and letters descended. Harry reached up and grabbed his copy of the wizarding newspaper and both he and Ginny began pouring over it. Hermione grabbed her copy and she and Ron did the same.

Cassie was watching the two couples while she continued to nibble at her toast when she had a sudden lurch in her stomach. A letter addressed to Cassie Robinson had landed in front of her. She sighed in relief and with excited anticipation when she recognized George Weasley's handwriting. Cassie quickly tore the envelope open and dropped it onto the table as she read the short letter.

  
  


Dear Cassie, Dad told me that they've decided to hide you at Hogwarts until they can figure out who is behind this scheme. I'm glad. You'll be safe there. Dumbledore will take care of you. I'm sorry we didn't get to spend any time together last time you were here. I'll look forward to seeing you again soon. Write back to me to tell me how you are settling in and just send it with one of the school owls. Love, George P.S. Don't believe anything Ron or Ginny tell you. It's all lies! G.W. 

  
  


Cassie could feel a rather sappy grin turn up the corners of her mouth and she fought to regain composure. It wasn't that she was embarrassed about her friendship with George or anything. She just wasn't sure how to tell Ginny and Ron. Just then, Ginny glanced at the envelope and Cassie thought that might force her hand as she would certainly recognize her brother's handwriting. Ginny shot a sharp look at the envelope and then at the letter in Cassie's hand and proved her wrong. "I don't know who he is, but you better tell him that if he's going to write you here he's got to address you by your correct name." Cassie gasped. She hadn't even thought about that. She would definitely have to let George know. She grabbed the envelope and folded it as well as the parchment it had contained and stuffed the whole thing into her book bag. She stared for a second at the heavy books that Ginny had stuffed in the bag a few minutes ago. She pulled out the potions book and thumbed through it for a few minutes as the noise of the Great Hall faded into the background. It sounded kind of interesting if she could have hoped to have actually made any of these potions. She looked at the different ingredients and suppressed a small shudder. She hoped that she wouldn't actually be expected to touch any of the nasty things. She wouldn't need the Skiving Snackboxes to puke. She'd be able to manage it all on her own, thank you very much. 

"Um, Ginny?" Ginny was talking to Harry now and Cassie noticed that he had his arm around her shoulders with his fingers interlaced with hers. She smiled to herself. She had been right. They were definitely still in love. "Ginny?" This caught the red-head's attention.

"Yeah?" 

"Um, what exactly is so terrible about potions?" She figured she might as well be prepared for whatever nastiness she was going to have to face. 

"Snape. If it weren't for him, it wouldn't be bad." Cassie noticed that Harry's eyes lit with a rather strange expression but then Ginny continued. "He hates Gryffindors and he hates most of the students and I . . ." 

"Yeah. And we have to have him right after breakfast. today and after lunch on Tuesday. It's enough to make me put off food completely." Elspeth spoke up from down the table a bit and Cassie and Ginny laughed in response although Cassie felt that she might be onto something. She certainly felt like the toast she had managed to cram into her stomach this morning was suddenly going to be appearing again if she got any more tense. "Come on, though. We'll be late if we don't move it." The three girls stood up, grabbing book bags and stepping away from the table. "Oh. There's Colin." That was Elspeth again and Cassie glanced at the girl. It was obvious that she had a severe crush on the boy. She wondered vaguely what was stopping her from getting together with him. Then she looked up and felt a brief flare of recognition. What worried her most, though, is that she saw an answering spark in his. He obviously remembered her. She could only hope that he didn't remember her name or the fact that Harry had told him she was Muggle-born, which was the complete opposite of what she now would be telling people. 

But before she could find out if he really did remember, the three girls hurried past him into the entrance hall. "Come on. It's in one of the more distant dungeons. And Snape loves to hand out detentions if you're late." They took off walking at a fast clip and Cassie struggled to keep her wand tucked into its pocket, her book bag from falling off her shoulder, her robes up so she wouldn't trip, and her feet from tripping over the uneven surface of the stone floor they were crossing at such speed. As they started down a dark staircase whose bottom she could not see, Cassie stopped. 

"Where are we going?"

"Dungeons. Potions, remember?"

"Were you serious about it being in a dungeon?" That word brought to mind all sorts of unpleasant thoughts and Cassie could almost feel her skin crawl at the feel of the moist close air that was settled in this stairway. 

"Yeah. We're serious. And it's as nasty as you're thinking." Cassie thought as she started down the dark stairs that at least Ginny could have lied and made her feel better. 


	11. Snape, Potions, and a Surprising Thought

Chapter 11

Snape, Potions, and a Surprising Thought

As the three girls, Ginny, Cassie, and Elspeth, descended the stone steps, torches lit and then extinguished again after they passed. Ginny explained briefly, "This is a bit of a shortcut that my brothers pointed out to me my second year. I was always late for potions and getting in all sorts of trouble. I don't think anyone else knows about it, though, which is why it's so dark and musty." 

"Oh." Cassie wondered if she meant George and Fred when she said "her brothers" and had decided to ask but then Elspeth spoke up. 

"It really helps a lot when we're heading for this class. The rest of the dungeon isn't as dingy as this part, if you're worried about that."

"Only a little bit. I was worried how I was going to be able to see the teacher if it was this dark." The other two girls laughed and then they reached the bottom of the steps and turned into a brighter hall. Torches were lit all along here and there were students scurrying by on their way to different classes. Cassie had two impressions of the dungeons within that first minute. The first was that it smelled really funny down here. The second was that all the torches in the world couldn't really brighten the place up. It was just depressing. Then they stopped in front of an open door and no one had to tell her that this was the classroom. She could hear the buzz of conversation inside. Elspeth stepped in to save them a seat and Ginny pulled Cassie over to the wall. 

"Here. Hermione wanted to give this to you earlier, but we were interrupted. I think it's self-explanatory. Plus she put a charm on it. It will stick inside the sleeve of your robe if you want. She said something about it being like a crib sheet. Does that mean something to you?" Ginny then handed Cassie a small card with some cramped writing on it. Cassie took it and hid it in her hand. She knew what a crib sheet was, but she couldn't imagine how one would help her do any magic. They walked inside and there was a sudden and complete hush. Every eye in the room was on her. There weren't a lot of students in the classroom, probably about 15, certainly no more than 20, but Cassie felt like a big neon sign announcing that she was a fraud was right over her head as they stared at her. 

Cassie flushed under the scrutiny, but followed Ginny to a rather peculiar looking table toward the front of the classroom. It was a long table, where probably up to four students could sit, although there were only two chairs in front of it now. Elspeth was sitting at the table behind the one they were heading for and grinned when Cassie caught her eye. Cassie noticed as she sat down in the chair that both the tables and chairs in this classroom were very sturdy and heavy looking. The surface of the table was fairly typical for a schoolroom, scarred and worn looking. There were all sorts of burn and scorch marks on this one, though, along with cuts that looked like they had been made by sharp knives. She could understand this, however, as there was an actual cauldron sitting in the middle of the table, looking for all the world like someone actually cooked potions in it. And there were cutting boards built into both ends of the tables. She remembered for a brief second how disgusting some of the potions ingredients sounded and hoped that today would not be an actual potion-cooking day. Maybe it was mostly theory. She could always dream. 

Ginny took her wand out of her book bag and Cassie did the same, setting it carefully on the table and hoping that she looked natural with it. She stole a quick glance at the cramped writing on the card that she still held in her hand. She squinted a little. Hermione really thought of everything. The heading on the card read, "Commonly used spell words. If you say these at the appropriate moments, people will be more likely to believe you." She had just glanced at the first word on the list which was "accio - to summon" when the noise level of the classroom which had risen again after she sat down suddenly dropped again. Cassie tucked the card into her pocket and turned to see what had happened now. 

Ginny whispered one word to her and Cassie felt a distinct frisson of fear slide down her spine. "Snape." The name, she had to admit, seemed appropriate. The man was thin and tall, and from her vantage point of sitting, he looked to be at least 8 feet tall although he was probably only a few inches over 6. His skin was sallow and his dark hair hung long around his face. But, it was the eyes that really held Cassie's attention. They were dark and looked like they had seen a lot of unpleasant things in this world. His eyes caught hers and she looked away quickly, not wanting to be too bold in the first five minutes of class. There would be time later for trying to decide what else his eyes were saying. 

Suddenly, though, she felt him beside her and she glanced over. His robes were black and billowing and she got a really good look at the heavy texture of them as he had stopped right next to her. He spoke, and his voice was as smooth and dark as the rest of him. "Miss Spencer, I presume." She nodded, unsure what was expected of her. She didn't trust her voice at the moment so she just nodded again. "I will tell you immediately that I do not want you in this classroom. I told our Headmaster that I absolutely refuse to have a student I do not even know and whose competence at potions is a complete mystery to me in my advanced potions class. It is an absolute impossibility." Cassie swallowed. Great, she was being thrown out. Maybe it was better that way. But no. "However," he continued, his voice deepening even further in anger, "he has informed me that I have no power to make this decision. You are to be in my class, with your cousin" and if possible this word was infused with even more anger and disdain than the rest of the sentence "for the rest of the year."

Cassie cleared her throat. "Yes, sir." 

"Do you think that is fair? These students have worked very hard to earn the privilege of being in my classroom. And yet you waltz in here with not even so much as a recommendation from a previous potions master. How do I know that you won't blow us all up? We work on very difficult and volatile mixtures in the classroom, dangerous even in semi-skilled hands." He paused and Cassie sensed that he was waiting for an answer. 

"Perhaps it is not fair, sir, but my mother taught me when I was very small that life is not always fair. You can certainly feel free to grade me as harshly as you wish, but I am looking forward to what I can learn in this class. And I can assure you, sir, that I can perform as well in this class as I can in any of my other subjects." Cassie could have sworn that he growled at her statement. But she just continued. "As for blowing you and my fellow students up, I will certainly make every effort to follow all your safety precautions because I don't really fancy becoming decoration for your walls, either." There was a small smattering of laughter from around the room and she even heard one or two people applauding. She flushed and stared down at the table but then raised her face again to meet his scowling glare. 

"I see you are as insufferably conceited as the rest of your family - why they insist on thinking that they even deserve to be called wizards is beyond me, but" he was interrupted by some laughter from the other side of the room and Cassie felt the color rising higher in her cheeks. He wasn't insulting her family, obviously, but she liked the Weasleys and felt that his insulting them in front of an entire classroom was a little over the top. The man continued, his voice sneering "there are some who do not see things quite as clearly as the rest of us and insist on including them as they are a pureblood family. So, I will keep an eye on you, you can be certain of that, and if you are not competent to be in this class I will remove you, no matter who I have to threaten to allow me to do so." There was more laughter from the far side of the room, Cassie could now see who was actually laughing. There were 4-5 students all chuckling at his rude behavior, all wearing the same school uniform. Cassie could guess these were Slytherin students as they were wearing green and silver ties. She scowled in response at them, but turned quickly to stare at the professor. She was about to meet his gaze squarely, trying to figure out exactly what was behind the dark eyes, but she felt a small tug on her sleeve and she looked down to see a very small piece of parchment shoved under it. She looked down to read it and felt all the color drain out of her face. 

"I forgot to tell you. He can read your mind (I'm not kidding). Don't meet his eyes with yours." So instead of staring directly at his face, Cassie stared behind his head, hoping that he would think she was looking at him and not call attention to her. Again. The man was really insufferable and very rude. She remembered that when she had been at Hogwarts in June, this man had taken points from Harry because he was still alive and had very unfairly taken points from Ron for having his wand out in the hallway although he was only going to defend Harry. She thought of the many times in the next few weeks she would be subjected to his behavior and felt a pit of dislike harden in her stomach. 

Then he spoke again and Cassie felt like she was going to throw up. She concentrated on what he was saying and tried to remember which box was which of the Skiving Snackboxes. She might have to use one right away. "We were supposed to be continuing our unit on poisons and their antidotes today, but I think we will have a small detour from our original lesson plans. Veritaserum - who can tell me about it?" Cassie didn't raise her hand but there were plenty of takers. He called on one of the Slytherin students who answered correctly and got 10 points. She listened with amazement to the answer. Wizards apparently had a potion that could make someone tell the truth about something. That was pretty amazing. She knew that there was such a thing "in the real world" but thought it was pretty unreliable. Of course, this might be, too. Snape spoke again, elaborating on what the student had said. "That's right. Three drops of this truth serum will have anyone rushing to speak of their most intimate secrets. When my class brews this, I always like to try it on some students." Cassie felt his eyes on her face and she stared determinedly down at the table. It was obvious that he was intending to try it on her. Would it work on a Muggle? She imagined so. "It takes a month to brew, however, so it will be a while before we have the privilege of hearing some of you students confess all of their secret deeds and thoughts." Cassie swallowed hard. A month, okay. She could live with that. Certainly, she'd be gone by then. That would be after Christmas and everything. She just knew that she could never let him give her that potion. If you had asked her a month ago she would have said that she had almost nothing to hide. She had always been a pretty good girl. (Although the idea of revealing everything she had thought, said, or done was not pleasant.) However, now she had one very big secret to conceal, the fact that she was a Muggle masquerading as a witch was certainly one very major part of that secret. But even that took a backseat to the secret she was hiding concerning Voldemort's cronies and their plans. If that got out, it would mean disaster for her, her family, and probably numerous other people. 

"Now, Miss Spencer, I am sure that you expect to be teamed up with your cousin for this class." Cassie's head whipped up. Of course she was going to be teamed with Ginny, wasn't she? "But that would leave Miss McCrae alone and we can't have that." Elspeth cleared her throat intending to speak. They had already decided she would partner up with a girl from another house whose usual partner had apparently gotten hurt in some sort of transfiguration mixup the day before but before the girl could even start to say that, Snape glared at her and she backed down. "No, you will partner with . . . Mr. Caden." She looked around quickly. There was a dark-haired boy in the front of the class who was smiling at her and she knew with a sudden instinct that this Slytherin boy would be her lab partner. "Now, Mr. Caden, make sure that Miss Spencer does her fair share of the work. We need to make sure she is as competent as she assures us she is." Cassie shot Ginny a panicked look and was not reassured by the equally panicked brown eyes that met hers. She stood hesitantly and picked up her book bag. The boy who had been sitting by the boy named Caden got up with a sarcastic smirk and moved to another table. Apparently, Professor Snape didn't have any objections to displacing other students as long as Cassie was as discomfitted as possible. 

The walk across the room felt like it was a mile although it was probably only about 20 feet. She sat down mechanically in the chair and stared unseeingly at the wall above the Professor's head. What was she going to do? She had absolutely no idea what would be expected of her and no idea of even where to start making this potion. Professor Snape was discussing the various ingredients that would go into the potion, smirking at her periodically. She tried to look interested but most of the words he was saying meant absolutely nothing to her. She thought it might be like making soup, strange soup, but still this was doable. However, the difficulty of the various ingredients, the way it had to be stirred, the extremely detailed spells that had to be said at various steps in the process made her realize that potion making was definitely not like making soup. There was no way she could do this. Absolutely no way. Then, suddenly, she had to. 

Snape waved his wand and the instructions were on the board and the various students around the room started working. "Hi, my name is Niles. What's yours? Besides Spencer, of course." 

"Pia. Pia Spencer." Okay, well he wasn't biting her, yet. 

"Don't be too nervous. He's like that to everyone. Well, except for our house, of course." 

She nodded, having no idea what he was talking about but not wanting to admit it. 

"You're a Weasley then?" 

"A . . . cousin." Her throat was so dry with nerves that she could barely spit out the word. "On their mother's side. But that family, yes." 

"Ah. Look why don't you get the water and we'll get started. I'll go pick up the ingredients." She nodded numbly, looking at the board and then looking at the other students. One person from each partnership had taken the cauldron over to a big sink in the corner and was filling it with water. The board said a certain measurement but no one else seemed to be measuring. She wondered about that but the mystery was soon solved. She picked up the cauldron (which was surprisingly heavy) from the table and walked over to the sink. The water ran continuously from the snake head that served as the faucet but a student would approach it and say some sort of spell along with the amount of water that they wanted. Then the faucet would turn off automatically when that amount was in their cauldron. Great. She was doomed. She waited her turn in line, sure that the entire ceiling of this dungeon would collapse when she got up there and didn't know what to do. Then it was her turn and just as she was about to confess to her stupidity, she heard Ginny's voice behind her, clear and quiet. The faucet did its job and Cassie had the proper amount in her cauldron as she walked slowly back to her table. 

Niles smiled at her as she set the cauldron on the table. He lit the fire under the cauldron immediately and Cassie tried not to let her absolute shock show on her face. The fire burned with a blue flame, just sitting on the top of table, not actually burning the surface, and not burning any fuel that Cassie could see. Plus, as she passed her hand by it she realized that there was no heat from the flames. Interesting. Very interesting. Okay, terrifying would work, too. 

"Here, you cut up the leeches and I'll peel the shrivelfigs." He dumped a very disgusting looking mass of grayish worms onto her cutting board and some equally disgusting looking seed things onto his own. "They work best at a nice even dice - maybe about oh, one-quarter inch or so." Cassie gulped. This did not look very fun at all. But, okay. She could at least cut. Leeches. She hoped they weren't alive still. She poked one with a knife point while Niles was looking the other direction. No movement. Good. As she chopped them up, she tried to pretend they were cucumbers. She hated those and hated cutting them up almost as bad as she hated eating them. But, she had to all the time and managed to survive so she fixed on that idea and chopped as carefully as she could. 

Meanwhile, he finished peeling whatever it was he was peeling and started shredding some feathers. When she was done, he looked at her pile and nodded his approval and handed her some of the feathers, too. "These have to be shredded to mix into the potion. When we're done here, we'll add these ingredients and let them simmer." Cassie glanced up at the board. 

"For 20 minutes, right?" 

"Yeah, that's right." While they were working, he asked her a few simple questions about where she was from and why she had come to Hogwarts so late in the year. She was able to answer all of them as they had discussed the evening before in Dumbledore's office and felt fairly confident that he wouldn't be able to trick her up. They finished the shredding and he added the peeled things. 

He had reached over for her leeches to stir them in when she felt a presence behind her. She knew without looking that it was Professor Snape. "Caden, Spencer." He bent down over their shoulders to look down into their cauldron. "You're a little behind, don't you think?" Niles didn't actually agree or disagree.

"We're doing fine sir. All our feathers are already shredded." 

"Ah. And you're letting Miss Spencer do her share of the work?"

"Yes, sir. She shredded the feathers and cut up the leeches." 

"Hmmmm." He moved on, and Cassie had the brief thought that maybe that meant he could find no fault with her chopping or shredding. Her heart felt significantly lighter as she added the last of the leeches to the pot and then just a few moments later helped Niles with the feathers. This was a more difficult task than she had imagined as the feathers kept getting caught on currents of air that were caused by students walking by or even just talking. Even her own breath would cause them to float up and she had a terrible time getting them into the pot. Finally, though, after a few minutes, they were all in there and Niles stood up. 

"I'm going to go get the rest of the ingredients. This needs to simmer, so turn the fire down a little, would you?" And then he was gone. Cassie stared with consternation at the fire. Turn it down? How was she supposed to do that? She held her wand firmly in her hand. She should at least fake it, but she didn't even know the spell. On sudden inspiration, though, she pulled the card out of her pocket. Yes, there is was, okay. She was about to murmur the spell, hoping that he would just think she was incompetent when nothing happened when she heard a female voice from behind her say "Descendio" and her fire decreased significantly. She turned. A girl smiled shyly at her. Cassie wasn't sure what house she was from although her tie was black and yellow. 

  
  


"That's about right. It keeps it at a good simmer without letting it get too cool. You'll get used to it eventually." Cassie realized that the girl had thought she could do the spell, was just unsure of the level to keep the fire and she smiled her gratitude, thinking all the stars above for her kindness. A moment later, Niles returned. 

"That's perfect. While this simmers, let's go ahead and chop up the beetle eyes and the Ashwinder eggs. Then we can add them after the, uh . . ."

But Cassie was ready for him. "After the aconite." 

"Yeah, that's right. Boy, you really know your stuff." 

Cassie just smiled faintly. It was right up on the board but maybe he wasn't used to having to follow along. "I'll do the eggs." She thought that sounded a lot less disgusting than beetle eyes, although when she actually looked at both ingredients she realized it probably wouldn't have made any difference. Yuck. This class was just as disgusting as she thought it was going to be. Snape passed by a few times as she was chopping but he didn't say anything to her. He did reduce one girl to tears when he insulted her chopping technique, but no one seemed too surprised so maybe this was not uncommon. Several house points were lost by every house except Slytherin and Cassie wondered about that. He did seem rather biased toward them. After all the chopping was finished and the other ingredients had been measured (a handy measuring spoon was available at each table) and lined up in the order they were going to be used, they had about five more minutes before the simmering had been completed and some spells had to be said and some stirring had to be done and some other ingredients had to be added. Ugh. This was as bad as she had feared. Hermione hadn't been exaggerating when she had called this class a "We're in big trouble" one. It was only sheer luck that had kept her out of trouble so far. 

"So, are you a pure-blood?" The question was so sudden that Cassie almost jumped. They had been talking a little but only about the potions ingredients, nothing personal since she had confirmed that she was indeed related to Ginny. She was glad this had been decided in advance. Hermione was right. They did ask and they did care. 

"Of course." Cassie injected every bit of confidence she had in this statement. It had to sound convincing. 

"Well, I wasn't sure, with you being a Weasley and all." 

"What do you mean by that?" She felt the indignation rising in her for the sake of the few Weasleys that she did know. Something else was going on here that she did not understand. 

"The way they are, I figured you could be, um, you know, mixed." 

"And how are they, exactly?" 

"You know they are a bunch of Muggle-loving blood traitors." He scowled at her, like he really wished she hadn't made him actually say it out loud. 

That sounded pretty bad. Cassie didn't feel that she could argue the point. She didn't know what a blood traitor was exactly but she did know that Arthur Weasley did seem to be a Muggle-lover. This was, apparently, not a good thing in Niles's eyes. Strange, he seemed to be nice in general. "Well, the Weasleys, as you undoubtedly know, are pure blood back farther than they can remember. And I would match my pedigree up against yours any day." Okay, where had that come from? She did not want to get into a contest with this boy. She knew nothing about him. "That's assuming you're a pure-blood. Are you?" His scowl deepened. Apparently, he felt she had really insulted him by even questioning it.

"Of course I am. I'm in Slytherin aren't I?" 

"Oh. Of course. Sorry." That was interesting. Something she hadn't known before. Were all the Slytherins pure blooded? Seemed like it. He sulked for another minute and Cassie wasn't sure whether to laugh or apologize. 

"We better add the next ingredients." A few minutes later, it was simmering again. That had been a pretty impressive bit of potion-making, Cassie thought, especially for a Muggle. They had added the ingredients as required and the liquid in the cauldron had turned from a bright blue to a almost fiery red and then to a rather pale green. It had bubbled and boiled and foamed and steamed and Cassie felt like reciting a few lines from Shakespeare as he stirred but she resisted the temptation. She doubted he would find it amusing. The steam that had risen from the potion as it boiled explained a lot of the smell down here in the dungeons. It didn't stink, exactly. Pungent. That was the right word. It was very pungent. 

When calm reigned again in the cauldron, Niles looked again at her. "So, you're in Gryffindor."

"Yes."

"I suppose you've met Potter, then." It wasn't a question. 

Cassie felt like smiling but she kept her face straight. She had met him all right. But she did not think Niles would care to find out exactly how well she knew "Potter." He would undoubtedly not approve. "Yes, I've met him. He seems nice." 

"Well, don't get too attached. It won't be long before he and the rest of his bunch . . . " His voice trailed off and Cassie felt her stomach clench again. Certainly the Slytherins didn't support Voldemort, did they? 

"What were you going to say?" she asked. He just scowled some more.

"Never mind." 

"Are you saying that you want Harry to lose his fight with Voldemort?"

"Don't say his name! Are you insane?" His voice was a low hiss. Cassie was taken aback. She had never met anyone who . . . oh, wait. Yeah, she vaguely remembered that Hermione had told her that most of the wizarding world never said Voldemort's name. 

"Sorry. But do you? Want Harry to lose? You want 'him' to win, to take over?"

"No, I don't care who wins. My family is just trying to survive, okay? I don't think Potter has a chance against The Dark Lord. We're just keeping our options open." Cassie stared for a while at her table, unsure of what to say in response. She had assumed that everyone at the school at least was fighting against Voldemort. He was so evil. How could anyone support him? Her mind was reeling and her stomach was churning. Fortunately, she was saved from needing to say anything by Snape calling the class to attention. 

"Add your final ingredients now. If your potion is not crystal clear then you have made a mistake and will need to turn in an essay telling me where you did so." Cassie held her breath as she added the final bit of some powdered root and Niles stirred. The potion stayed green for two very long minutes and then, suddenly, with the blink of an eye turned absolutely clear. Like water.

"Aaaah!" they both said together, and despite herself, Cassie grinned at Niles. "That's fantastic. Incredible." She was struck again by the paradox. He seemed to be a nice person, was friendly, polite. But he didn't support Harry. This war obviously was a lot more complicated than she had originally thought. She'd have to ask Ginny and Harry about this later. Snape came up behind them again. 

"Very good, Caden. Did you help, Spencer?"

"You know I did, sir. I did quite a bit of it."

"Hmmm. Well, move the cauldron to the back room and make sure you keep it on a nice simmer. Then clean up this mess." She had no idea what he meant by taking the cauldron to the back room but she noticed other students carrying their cauldrons (manually she was very pleased to note) through a door that led to what was obviously another room. She picked up their cauldron and headed that direction, also, but before she got far . . . .

"Niles, do you want to come back and look at it once I get it settled?" 

"No, I trust you." Great. Wrong thing to say. She walked carefully into the back. The cauldron was heavy and she was worried about spilling it. When she got back there, she noticed that there were fires going for each student to put his or her cauldron over, to apparently let it stew for the required time. Each one was labeled with the partnership's name and she was extremely surprised to see "Caden and Spencer" next to one of the fires. She put her cauldron carefully on it and then didn't know what to do, the fire had to be turned down but the girl who had saved her before was nowhere in sight. Well, she'd have to fake it and then get Niles to come actually turn it down. She gripped her wand tightly. "Descendio." Cassie about had a heart attack as the fire went to a nice simmer. She turned in surprise and saw Ginny, who had just entered with her own cauldron. She smiled but Ginny looked a little harried as she settled her own cauldron on the appropriate fire (Weasley and McCrae). Cassie found out why when a moment later Snape followed her in. 

"Weasley, five points from Gryffindor. I had not yet looked at your potion and told you to bring it back here."

"Sorry, sir. I forgot." Cassie was sorry to see that Ginny's potion was not quite crystal clear. It was a very pale green. 

"I want an essay on what you did wrong with this potion. 12 inches at least."

"Yes, sir." Ginny scowled after him as he left. "You slimy git." 

Cassie laughed and squeezed Ginny's arm. "Thanks." Then she stepped back out into the main room. Niles was busily cleaning up the knives and measuring spoons and by the time Cassie got back to their table, there was not much left for her to do. She scrubbed haphazardly at the stains the leeches had left on the cutting surface and then Snape dismissed the class. 

"Goodbye, Pia. We'll probably be working together the rest of the year. So I'll see you next time." Niles waved as he left the classroom. 

"Yeah, okay. Bye." Cassie slowed down to wait for Ginny and Elspeth to finish cleaning up their mess. Apparently, someone near them had had an accident because there was a lot of spilled potion around and about six people were looking extremely aggravated as they tried to get it cleaned up. 

"Miss Spencer. I wish to speak to you." Cassie looked around to see Snape leaning against his desk looking pointedly at her. 

"Um, actually sir, I've got another class right now."

"Now, please." Ginny shot her a look and Cassie took a deep breath and walked over to him.

"Yes, sir." 

"Something is going on here that I have not been informed about. You are not all that you purport to be. I will be keeping an eye on you."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, sir. I will do my best to live up to the Headmaster's expectations of me." Cassie was careful not to meet his eyes but to sort of come close to it. It was not a comfortable feeling for her because she liked to meet people's gazes fully so that she could understand them a little bit. This man was a complete mystery to her and would probably be so until she left. Too bad. He seemed to be sort of an interesting person, even if he was unfair and prejudiced and mean and rude about the Weasleys. There was more to him than he was letting out, too. In that, they had something in common. She turned and met Ginny and Elspeth as they headed out the door. 

"Come on, Pia. We've got Defense next. We don't want to be late for that." 

Oh, Cassie thought. So that's what those letters stood for on her schedule. This was the class with the gold star. She wondered if that star was a good thing or a bad thing. She would have asked Ginny but with Elspeth chatting on about potions class Cassie did not have a chance. It would have been too suspicious. They walked a long distance, climbing from the dungeons and then up an unspecified number of floors. Cassie had to hop over one trick step and they had to go back down one staircase and try it again because it had shifted from its usual position and Ginny and Elspeth didn't want to go the long way around. 

As the three girls were heading down the hallway which apparently would take them to the classroom, Elspeth giggled. "There's Colin Creevey." Cassie's stomach plummeted but of course Ginny did not know she would prefer not to meet him and Elspeth would have no idea either. "Hi, Colin. How are you today?" She smiled shyly up at him and Cassie was struck again by how much she obviously liked him. He didn't exactly seem oblivious, just distracted. 

"Hi, Elspeth, Ginny, and . . ." 

"Uh, hi, Colin." Cassie suddenly jumped in. "It's nice seeing you again."

"You two have met?" Ginny was surprised at this. 

"Yeah. Earlier." Something of the panic in her voice must have been audible because Ginny hurriedly sent Elspeth in to get them a spot. Elspeth looked fairly disappointed this time but she went. 

"Cassie, isn't it?" Colin asked. 'I bet you thought I'd forgotten you. But even though your hair is different, I definitely recognize you. Are you surprised?" Ginny looked flummoxed and Cassie didn't blame her. 

"No. Not really. Look, could we talk for a minute?"

"Sure." He stepped obligingly with her toward a small alcove set into the wall and Ginny with one last panicked look entered the classroom behind Elspeth. 

"Colin. My name is not Cassie. That was kind of a made-up thing. For Harry. He didn't know then, but he does now. He knows my name is Pia Spencer and I'm not Muggle-born at all." 

"What?" He looked at her, obviously very confused. 

"Well, it started as a joke. You know. To get him to show me around on his broom. I'd always wanted to ride a Firebolt." 

"Why would you have needed to fool him? He's really generous to give rides . . ."

"Look, Colin. It's very complicated." She sounded just like Harry now. "I can't really explain. But my name is really Pia and I'm a pure-blood."

"Oh." Too late, Cassie remembered that Colin was Muggle-born so rather than reassuring him, her last statement had been a subtle insult. "Pia, then?" 

"Yes, please. And please don't say anything to anyone else about the time we met before or call me Cassie as a joke. It could get someone into a lot of trouble. Namely, me." 

"Yeah. All right." His voice was flat. "If that's what you want." 

"It's really important. For Harry and the war and everything." 

"Okay. I've got Defense now, too, if that's where you're going."

"I am going there. That's great. I'll actually know someone else in the class besides . . . Elspeth." She watched his face. Not a flicker. Well, the girl was right. He hardly knew she was alive. But that could be changed. Oh, yeah. It could. They walked into the class together. 


	12. The Imperius Curse

Chapter 12

The Imperius Curse

Cassie was very nervous as she and Colin entered the classroom. She had absolutely no idea what to expect and Hermione's gold star was not really helpful in telling her. Ginny wasn't even there to help. Of course, the same thing happened in this classroom as had happened down in the dungeons. She walked in and everybody stopped talking and stared at her. She tried to smile and hoped it looked a little more authentic than it felt. 

"Come on, uh, Pia. We'll go sit by Gin and everyone." Colin started over to a group of desks and chairs in the front corner and Cassie noticed Ginny smiling at her, like she thought something was really funny. Cassie let her eyes skim over the classroom quickly, trying to get an idea if anyone else she knew was in the class. A second later, she stopped and stared straight ahead, her eyes opening wide and despite her efforts to remain calm, a really huge smile broke across her face. Standing in the front of the class, leaning against the desk, smiling at her very kindly, was Remus Lupin. He straightened and walked toward her, reaching out his hand. 

"You must be Miss Spencer. I was told to expect you this class period. You're Ginny's cousin, I believe." 

"Yes. That's right." He took her hand to shake it and she felt suddenly much more confident in her ability to get through this class without too much problem. 

"I'm Professor Lupin. I teach Defense against the Dark Arts. Welcome. I'm sure you'll be a great contribution to our class." 

"Why didn't you . . . " She wanted to ask him a million questions, but he just smiled and walked back to his desk. She realized that he really couldn't talk to her like he knew her and so she continued to follow Colin over to where Ginny and Elspeth were sitting along with a couple of other kids she didn't know. 

Cassie sat down next to Ginny. "Why didn't you tell me he was teaching this class?" 

"I thought it would be a great surprise. Besides, I didn't really have a chance when Hermione handed out schedules this morning." 

"Speaking of Hermione, are we ever going to have any classes with the three of them?" Ginny nodded quickly but before she could elaborate, Remus started class and she couldn't continue. 

"All right, class. Let's get started. We have a lot to do today. First, let's introduce our new student, Pia Spencer. Pia, will you stand up and let everyone see who you are?" Cassie reluctantly stood up and looked around the classroom, feeling like a very big idiot. Everyone clapped politely and she sat down quickly. 

Remus moved onto the subject matter and Cassie was very interested to watch him teach. "We were working on our dueling skills last class and I'd like to finish that up quickly today so we can move on to something else. I think we just had two more pairs, right?" Four of the students stood up quickly and moved to the front of the classroom. Remus motioned two of them over to the side of his desk and the other two sat down on the floor quickly to watch. They both pulled out their wands and faced each other. Cassie watched, fascinated, at the looks of concentration on their faces as they stood there. One of them wiggled his wand in a very exaggerated waving motion and everybody in the classroom laughed, even Remus, although he tried to look upset instead. The student bowed and then stood straight again, losing the smile and looking intently at his partner. Remus said something and suddenly a flash of purple light flew out of one of the student's wands. The other student reacted, but apparently it was a second too late because the light hit him full in the chest and he flew back about three feet where he collided with a bookshelf and hit his head hard. There was complete silence for a moment and Cassie wondered if he'd been knocked unconscious but he stood up quickly, looking rather sheepishly at Remus. 

Remus addressed the student who had fallen down. "You did really well, but your shield charm was just a little late. You have to anticipate what your assailant is going to do and move before he does." He turned to the other student. "That was great. Good power control. It's a vast improvement over the last time I saw you. Have you been practicing?" There was a shy nod. "Well, keep it up." 

The other pair of students stood up and one of them approached Remus and talked quietly to him for a minute. Remus glanced over at Cassie and shook his head. There were a few students turning and shifting in their seats to look at Cassie and she for the first time since she had seen Remus felt a little nervous. She suddenly realized why Hermione had marked this class with a gold star. Remus knew she couldn't do magic. The students in the class, however, would expect her to be able to and it would be hard for him to get her out of it completely. It was obvious this boy wanted to partner with her in the next duel. She pictured herself flying across the room like the poor boy a minute ago and decided this was definitely not an experience she wanted to have. Remus, however, really helped her out. 

"No. She hasn't been here practicing with us and it wouldn't be a fair contest. There will be plenty of time this year for you to put her through her paces. Just go ahead and work with your assigned partner." This was a more interesting duel to watch than the last one and Cassie was grateful that it wasn't her up there. The girl and the boy were fairly equally matched. One would cast a spell and the other would block it and then throw one of their own. This went on for several rounds before the girl finally managed to sneak one by the boy with some little fake-out maneuver. Everyone clapped, even the boy who wound up on the floor, and Cassie was very impressed at the girl's skill. She smiled warmly at Ginny as she returned to her seat. 

"That's Luna. I'll introduce you to her later. She's really good. In the D.A. and all." 

Remus was standing in front of the class again and Cassie turned her attention to him. "Okay. That was really good, Luna. You're a good duelist, and clever, too." The girl smiled in a rather vague looking way which made Cassie wonder about her. But if Ginny liked her, that was certainly a recommendation. 

"Students, you all remember, I'm sure, when Professor Moody was your Defense against the Dark Arts teacher." There was a little bit of muttering around the room at that and Cassie watched as Ginny's face as well as Elspeth's froze into a tight, hard expression. "He was, despite everything, a good teacher and I know that he covered to some extent the three unforgiveable curses with the older classes. Did he discuss them at all with you?" No one moved for a long moment and the tension in the room was almost palpable before Ginny finally, reluctantly, raised her hand. 

"He talked about them one day. He didn't do the demonstrations like he did with some of the other classes." 

"Is that true for you Ravenclaws as well?" Almost everybody nodded, looking somber. Cassie stared around, dying to ask Ginny what exactly was wrong, but she didn't dare. After a moment, Remus cleared his throat and spoke again. 

"I don't intend to do the demonstrations on the spiders. That was, I think, a rather cruel way to teach the classes. It upset a lot of the kids. I don't want to upset you but I think you need to be aware of what the curses are and how to repel them." 

"You can't repel unforgiveable curses." One of the students from the back of the room spoke up, his voice loud in the complete silence of the room. 

"I think," and Remus' voice was soft when he answered the student "that a few years ago I would have agreed with you. And most wizards would still agree that this is why the curses are called unforgiveable. However, I think that recent events, events you have seen with your own eyes in many cases, have proven that this is not true. At least two of them can be fought successfully. The third, well, perhaps repelled is too strong a word, but avoided is not. I . . ." Remus looked around and his eyes rested on several of the students, finally landing on Cassie. "I think that you need to be aware of how you can fight these. I'm afraid that many of you will be forced to face these at some point. Know your enemy. Know what they can do. Know what you need to do to survive." The entire class sat quietly for a few more moments and Cassie could tell they were all lost in their own thoughts. These kids, she could tell, had seen a lot more in this world than they should have. It made her sad to think about. Her attention shifted to Remus, who was also sitting quietly. It was obvious he was having the same thoughts. 

After a moment, he cleared his throat. "All right. Well. The first thing we can do about these curses is avoid getting hit with them in the first place. To do that, we use a charm that we all are familiar with from dueling. It's the basic protection charm. Miss Spencer, any idea what that would be?" 

Cassie looked up, surprised. She had the crib sheet still in her hand as she had pulled it out to study during the previous part of the lesson, hoping she could figure out what some of the words the students had been throwing at each other meant. She glanced at it now. She had seen the word. Oh, yes. "Um, Protego?" 

"Very good. Very good. You would, of course, need to say it a little more forcefully than that if a skilled wizard was throwing these curses at you, but that's fine." He smiled and Cassie smiled back, relieved. Ginny winked at her and she winked back. 

"If a simple charm, then, one that most wizards and witches are familiar with, will repel these curses, why are they so terrible? Can anyone tell me?" No one raised their hand for a long minute. Cassie sat there and thought about the question, thinking that she might actually know the answer, wondering if she was brave enough to raise her hand and volunteer the information. She decided she had nothing to lose and tentatively raised her hand in the air. Remus looked at her, extremely surprised, but he hid it well. "Yes?" 

"I think it has something to do with the power behind them. You have to be a powerful wizard to use those spells and make them work." Cassie remembered Harry explaining this to her that long night they spent talking before they had come here to battle and she remembered how he had explained that no one could really fight Voldemort because no one else's power equaled his. "And if such a powerful wizard is trying to, um, curse you, you have to be a fairly powerful one to protect yourself against it. Or it just goes right through the protection, I think." She looked down at her desk, sure that the entire class would break out laughing. After all, she knew nothing about magic.

"Excellent, Miss Spencer. That's exactly right. Very good." Remus looked around the room again, his eyes meeting those of various students. "So . . . what does that mean for all of you?"

Colin raised his hand this time. "We don't have any chance of fighting them." Everyone laughed at that and Remus smiled. 

"Well, there are a few of you in here who would be able to protect yourself. But, you're right, Colin, most people in this room would not be able to defend themselves from an unforgivable curse. So, let's assume, then, that you're hit with one and whether you try to protect yourself or not, it doesn't work. What happens then?" 

No one said anything again and it seemed to Cassie that everyone was shifting uncomfortably in their seats. "All right. Well, that's what I want to teach you about today and probably for the next class. Assuming you aren't killed immediately with Avada Kedavra, the other two curses can be fought." Cassie heard some muttering behind her and tried to turn to see who it was interrupting the lesson, but she couldn't tell. She turned her attention back to Remus. "Today, I want to start with the Imperius curse. Just as a quick reminder, what does the curse do, exactly?" Cassie started, suddenly realizing why Remus was talking about this today. He wanted her to get an idea what those dark wizards had planned to do to the Prime Minister and probably other Muggles who they wanted to control. 

"It controls your mind, makes you do things you don't want to do." Elspeth spoke out quickly to describe the curse and smiled happily when Remus agreed with her. 

"Has anyone here ever been under Imperius before?" No one raised their hand in reply although Cassie noticed Ginny shift uncomfortably. "I'm going to put each of you under the curse, just so you know what it feels like. I want you to try really hard to resist what I am telling you to do, concentrate, and fight against my voice. It can be done, has been done, by students much younger than you are now." 

"Harry Potter did it. That doesn't mean we can." Cassie could have sworn that this complaint came from the same student who had been muttering earlier, someone apparently was very unhappy with the tone of this entire lesson. 

"Yes, he did it. Fourth year. But you can do it, also. I expect some will do better than others. However, this isn't a competition and you mustn't feel ashamed if you give in more quickly than your neighbor. You must remember that you will feel relaxed, docile and amenable to whatever you are told to do. It will seem natural for you to do whatever you're commanded. When you obey what you're commanded to do is when you have surrendered and are under the person's complete control. Remember to fight it with all you have." Cassie glanced over at Ginny, who was very white, and Cassie wondered if she was going to be sick. She sure looked like she was about to pass out. 

"What's wrong, Ginny?" Cassie managed to whisper as she tried hard to pay attention to what Remus was saying as well as what else was going on in the classroom. Ginny just shook her head and looked like she was trying to compose herself. All the students were muttering nervously as Remus was telling them to stand up and assuring them he wouldn't ask them to do anything dangerous or embarrassing. He cast the first spell and the first student was told to stand on his chair. He did so after a few seconds and Remus smiled encouragingly at him as he released him from the spell. Cassie watched with a rather morbid fascination as Remus moved methodically around the classroom, commanding each student to do something different. Some had to stand on their desks, or pretend they were flying on a broom, one had to quote a poem, and so on. A few of the students were able to remain standing calmly at their desks for quite a few moments, but eventually, with a little stronger tone from Remus they all gave in and did as he asked. Finally, he reached their little corner of the room. Colin was first of their group and Remus performed the curse and then ordered him to sing the Hogwarts anthem. Everyone laughed at his rather off-key singing but Cassie's stomach was churning. There were only two more students before it would naturally be her turn. She was not sure what to expect. It would look strange if he skipped over her, but her nervousness at being cursed was asserting itself strongly at this moment. No one was screaming. Maybe it didn't hurt too badly. Or maybe that was part of Remus' command to them. The next student gave in to Remus' command immediately and everyone got a huge laugh as he had to hop around like a toad. Then it was Elspeth's turn. She was ordered to jump off her chair and then back on again. She held off for probably 30 seconds but then got on the chair, jumped off, and then jumped back on again. Cassie would have chuckled along with everyone else but she was too nervous. What would Remus do to her? She hoped she didn't look like to big of an idiot. 

Remus looked at Cassie. "Okay, Pia. This won't hurt. Just concentrate and try to fight the urge to give in." He pointed his wand at Cassie and said the curse. An incredible feeling of detachment came over her and she felt like she never had before. She felt as if she hadn't a care in the world. After a moment, she became aware of a voice telling her to hop like a bunny rabbit. She felt her muscles tighten in preparation to jump but stopped herself and questioned why she should hop around like a rabbit. That could be really embarrassing. No, she wouldn't. Again, she heard the voice telling her to hop around like a bunny and again she told herself it was stupid to do so and she wouldn't. Now she heard the voice more urgent and insistent in her mind. She felt a powerful struggle inside herself and, ultimately, the urge to hop overpowered the urge to ignore the command. She felt herself, almost as if it was some other person, hopping around. Then Cassie was aware of who she was and where she was. She looked tentatively into Remus' face and saw that he was both surprised and pleased with her performance.

"Excellent, Pia. You held off several of my attempts to control you. Yes," he repeated as he looked at her thoughtfully, "most excellent, indeed." Remus then turned to Ginny whose pale face had an intense expression. "Are you ready, Ginny?"

She swallowed hard, nodded, and he placed her under the curse. He ordered her to climb up and stand on her desk. She stood there in an obvious trance but with an defiant expression on her face. For a couple of minutes, there was a mental struggle between Ginny and Remus as he ordered her several times to climb onto the desk, becoming more insistent each time before she finally obeyed. Even her movements as she climbed onto the desk showed she was still fighting the command with everything she had. 

A moment later, Remus lifted the curse and Ginny climbed quickly down from the desk, looking quite upset. She sat down right away and Cassie thought that she looked like she might cry. She tried to ask her again what was wrong, but Ginny just shrugged her off and Cassie decided that she didn't want to push her new friend. If she wanted to tell her, she would tell her at some point. Maybe some other time, when there weren't 20 other people in the room. 

Remus moved on to other students, finishing a few minutes later with one student's spectacular impersonation of Professor McGonagall which had everybody laughing loudly. When the class had regained their seats and were relatively quiet again, Lupin looked around seriously once again. "Next class, we'll practice defending ourselves against the curse and we'll see how strong some of your protection spells are. Also, I think we'll spend some time talking about the next unforgiveable curse - Cruciatus." There was a general murmur, but whether this was from excitement or fear Cassie could not really tell. All she could think about was Harry telling her about the Cruciatus curse, that it's only purpose was to cause pain and that it was absolutely one of the worst pains imaginable. She had seen people after they were hit by that particular curse and she knew she never wanted to see that ever again. The screaming was unbelievable. She couldn't believe that Remus would actually perform the spell on anyone in this classroom but she didn't know how else they would learn about it. It was the sort of thing you really couldn't imagine. Of course, maybe most of these students had seen it performed before. Maybe they were all familiar with it. She couldn't really ask so she didn't. Professor Lupin assigned them to each write a 12-inch essay on their experience with the Imperius curse and then he dismissed the class. 

The girl Ginny had pointed out to Cassie earlier sort of drifted over to them. "Luna, this is my cousin, Pia Spencer. Pia, this is Luna Lovegood. She's in Ravenclaw and she's a really good friend." The girl looked vaguely at Cassie, like she didn't quite register her presence. 

"Hi, Luna. Nice to meet you." Cassie looked at Ginny with a questioning gaze, wondering if the girl was blind or something. But Ginny just raised an eyebrow at Cassie. 

The girl spoke again to Ginny which made Cassie almost more convinced that she didn't really see her. "I'll be cheering for Gryffindor in tomorrow's match. I'll be wearing my hat." 

"Oh, thanks, Luna. I'll make sure to look for it. I think we have a good chance of winning." 

Suddenly, the girl's rather protuberant eyes fixed on Cassie and she felt like she was almost being x-rayed, the stare was so intense. "So, who are you hiding from, then?" 

Despite herself, Cassie felt her eyes grow wide and she backed up a step. "What?"

Ginny quickly stepped in, clearly taken aback a bit herself by Luna's question but trying to cover for Cassie's obvious shock. "What makes you think she's hiding, Luna? She just . . ." but before she could launch into the cover story they had developed, Luna answered her.

"Why else would someone transfer to Hogwarts in the middle of the year?" 

"Um, yeah, well . . ." Ginny wanted to somehow explain about the traveling parents and the joining the Order and everything, but the girl had apparently moved onto another subject in her mind.

"I hope they have steak and kidney pie for lunch. I didn't have time for breakfast today." She turned and walked out of the classroom and a very bemused looking Ginny stood smiling after her. 

"She's a little, um, disconnected from reality sometimes." 

"Really? I never would have figured that out." They both laughed and Elspeth joined them a moment later. The three of them headed down to lunch. "What do we have after lunch, Ginny?" Cassie had enjoyed the two classes she had had so far quite a bit, but she wasn't sure her nerves could take too much more strain today. 

"Herbology. With the 7th years. You'll like it, I think." 

"Herbology? Is that plants?" She almost didn't dare hope for a subject as simple and straightforward as plants after this morning's excitement.

"Yeah. Plants." 

Cassie felt the knots in her stomach come undone. She loved plants anyway. But she quickly decided that they were her new favorite friends. They descended a staircase into the Great Hall and saw Ron, Hermione, and Harry waiting for them. The three of them looked up and there were obvious questions that they couldn't ask in their eyes. Both Ginny and Cassie smiled broadly and all three seventh years relaxed visibly. The first morning was done. Cassie had survived it. 

Elspeth went to sit with the other two roommates, which in a way was a relief to Cassie. They could talk a little more freely without any of the other girls to overhear what they had to say. They would, of course, still have to talk somewhat guardedly as everyone else at the table assumed she was magical but at least they could relax a little bit. 

"So, how was it?" Hermione was eager, apparently, to get a blow-by-blow account of the morning's activities. Cassie was unsure of how to answer and so to forestall having to discuss the events in the two classes, she helped herself to (she didn't want to believe it but it was true) steak and kidney pie. 

Ginny was exuberant in her praise of Cassie's poise. "She was fantastic. Absolutely fantastic. I think she has practically convinced Snape to hire her on as a personal assistant as her potion turned out perfect, and you should have . . ."

"Her potion? What about your potion?" 

"Hey, Pia, isn't it?" Cassie turned her head to see a student, from Ravenclaw she guessed, standing behind her.

"Yes?" 

"I just thought you were fantastic in potions today. Old Snape practically swallowed his tongue when you told him that life wasn't fair."

"Oh, I thought the best part was when you told him you didn't want to wind up as decoration on his walls." Another student had come up behind the first and they were both grinning at her widely. Cassie smiled back, a little chagrined that she had made such a spectacle of herself. 

"Thanks. I really appreciate it." 

"I just can't believe you didn't get detention. Plus, no points taken either. That was brilliant. I'd say you really threw him for a loop." The two students wandered back over to their own table and as they left, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all turned and stared directly at Cassie. 

There was a sudden outburst of questions, all tripping over each other in their enthusiasm to be answered. Ginny held up her hand after a second. "I will happily tell you the entire story. She was absolutely brilliant." She related the entire story to a very shocked-looking trio with what Cassie thought was exaggeration running throughout. As the recitation came to a close, all three of them looked at Cassie with different looks. Ron looked at her with practically worshipful reverence, Hermione looked slightly scandalized that she wasn't trying to blend in better, and Harry had a look of pleased satisfaction. 

"So, what did you think about Snape?" Harry asked quietly. 

"He's an arrogant, condescending jerk. And he doesn't like the Weasleys, of which he thinks I am one." 

"No, I mean, what did you think about him?" 

"I told you, he's . . ."

"No. You're missing my point. When you saw him, what sort of impression did you get from him?" 

"Oh, you mean what sort of vibes was I picking up from him?" 

"Yeah." 

"Couldn't really tell. Ginny said that he could read my mind and I shouldn't look at him directly. So, I didn't and I couldn't really." Harry looked extremely disappointed at this news. 

"You mean you can't get any sort of sense of . . . ." Before he could continue, Niles Caden sauntered over. Harry and Ron both glared at him. He was a Slytherin after all, and decidedly unwelcome at the Gryffindor table. 

"Hey, Pia. I wanted to thank you again for your great work with me today in potions. You really have some talent, there." 

"Um, thanks, Niles. Have you met . . . ." But before she could introduce him around to her friends, he rudely said that he had met them and that he didn't want to repeat the experience. He flashed her a quick smile and retreated back to the Slytherin side of the hall. 

"Bloody hell, Pia. You must have made quite a splash this morning. Even Snape's own house doesn't mind that you smarted off to him. Incredible." Ron was sitting there with complete and utter shock all over his face. 

"Snape's own house?" 

"He's the head of Slytherin house. Certainly you noticed he was just a little biased toward them?"

"Well, I noticed, but I didn't know why."

"Now you know. The git. And I got assigned a 12-inch essay on what I did wrong with my stupid Veritaserum potion. Well, come on, Pia. I want to get back up to the dorm to put down these books. They're heavy and we don't need them for herbology." Cassie finished her last bite of pastry and shot a pleased smile around at the three friends. 

"Plants. Should be easy, huh?" And she walked out of the Great Hall right behind Ginny. 


	13. The Easy Afternoon

Chapter 13

An Easy Afternoon

The walk across the grounds a few minutes later was long and cold. Cassie could feel the snow getting into her shoes and wondered how cold she would be through the class with wet feet. Ginny didn't seem terribly concerned, though, and she tried to relax. She wouldn't die even if her feet were frozen before they got back to the castle. She had looked at her schedule earlier and was pleased that she had been right about this class. Hermione had rated it a green which meant no magic was needed. Ginny had only put one book into Cassie's bag and kept one in hers. "And we rarely use this one, either, but just in case." The book actually looked kind of interesting. 1000 Magical Herbs and Fungi was not the most exciting title but Cassie imagined that the book itself would be something she would never see again after leaving Hogwarts. She made a mental note to spend her free time this afternoon looking at it. Yes, after Herbology, she had no more classes today which left three hours of free time before dinner. Cassie was very pleased to see that she would have some time to answer George's letter, which was in the bottom of her book bag practically begging to be reread and answered. Plus, she really wanted to write a letter to her parents. She wasn't sure how she would get it to them, but she wanted to let them know she was well and (at least so far) was having a good time. 

They arrived at the greenhouses several minutes before class was supposed to start although Ginny grimaced when she looked at her own watch. "We'd better hurry. I didn't allow enough time, I don't think. I've got to do us both." Cassie didn't know what she was talking about but found out a second later. "Take off your shoes. We'll sit down over here. We'll be out of sight if anyone's being nosy." They sat down on a bench behind some pots and Ginny quickly muttered the same spell she had used that morning to dry their hair. She aimed the stream of warm air over Cassie's wet socks as well as her own and a few minutes later when Cassie's toes were feeling all warm and toasty turned the stream onto their shoes, which were steaming in the warmth of the greenhouse interior. Many students were arriving as they finished and Cassie smiled her thanks at Ginny as they both slipped now warm dry feet into dry shoes. Ginny pointed her wand at Cassie's hands. "Hurry. I've got to do your nails now, too." Cassie suddenly remembered the lions painted on her hands but did not know why it mattered if they were going to roar now or not. However, she stuck her hands out and Ginny muttered one more quick spell. The roaring, much to Cassie's relief, was audible but not extremely loud. "That should do. Come on." 

The two girls stepped out from behind the pots and met several other students who were waiting for the beginning of class. Now that her feet were dry, Cassie could actually pay attention to her surroundings and she looked around with interest. 

She had been in greenhouses numerous times in her life as her mother loved gardening and they would go early every spring to pick out the plants and flowers that they would use that year. This greenhouse was huge, but otherwise looked fairly typical, with plants on every available surface, gloves, fertilizer, and watering cans littering any area where there were no plants. The smell, however, was slightly different. She couldn't identify exactly what was different, but something definitely was. They stood in a group with other students and Cassie looked around with some interest. There were a few faces she recognized although she didn't know any names. No, that wasn't true. She saw Neville on the other side of the clump of students and waved at him. He waved back, obviously pleased to see her, and he made his way over to them. 

"Hey, Pia. It's great you have this class." 

"Hi, Neville. Yeah. I love plants so it should be fun. What exactly do we do in here, though?" 

"Well, we learn what . . ." 

Cassie turned suddenly, losing interest in what Neville was saying. She felt somebody running their fingers along her arm but as she looked, she didn't see anyone standing there. "I'm sorry, what were you saying?" But before he could answer, she felt the fingers again. Her first thought was that Harry was playing a joke on her and was wearing his invisibility cloak, but then she moved her arm and she had to stifle a scream. It wasn't Harry. In fact, it wasn't even fingers. Some plant was touching her - normally not an experience which would scare her - but this one was sending out tentacles at an alarming rate of speed which were winding their way around her arm. "Ginny! Neville! Something, some plant is . . . Neville! Help!" The tentacles were in her hair and had her head gripped tightly and her arm was almost completely covered in green. Ginny didn't hear her panicked cry because she was visiting with some other girls and Cassie was trying not to draw too much attention to herself, but Neville saw immediately that she was worried. 

"Don't worry. He's just curious about you, that's all. A simple stupefy spell takes care of most sneaky plants."

"A stupefy spell? Could you do it for me, please? My wand is . . ."

"Sure." A second later she felt the plant release her and she stepped carefully away, trying hard to disentangle her hair from the vines without looking too stupid. However, she finally gave up worrying about what she was looking like and just pulled. She felt tears come to her eyes as she left quite a few hairs tangled around the leaves and she had to reach back and grab one of her combs from one vine. Neville was trying hard not to laugh but not succeeding very well. "One of the things we learn first year is not to stand too close to creeping jasmine. It's pretty, but can actually kill you if you don't stupefy it soon enough." 

Cassie stared at him with wide eyes and then composed herself, "Yeah. Well, I didn't see it, er, him." The woman Cassie assumed must be the professor entered a second later which saved her from further humiliation. The woman was someone Cassie had never seen before, short, dumpy, and a bit frazzled. She looked over the class quickly, apparently counting students. She passed Cassie by on the first pass and then did a double take. 

"Miss Spencer, I presume." At Cassie's quick nod, she gave a quick faint smile in greeting and then started into her lecture. Cassie listened, but her eyes were scanning the surrounding plants carefully to see if any others were moving. Now that she looked, she realized that none of these plants were the familiar gentle plants she was used to in the greenhouses or gardens back home. These were all strange - either the color was not quite right, or the flowers had teeth, or there were signs on them indicating they were poisonous or something. Professor Sprout, a name which had made Cassie laugh out loud when she had first been so addressed by another student, shooed them over to some seedlings which apparently needed to be repotted. Cassie was not reassured by the fact that they had to put on very heavy gloves and goggles before they started work. 

Ginny tried to be reassuring but it was difficult through the goggles and with numerous other students around. They worked in small groups, so Cassie, Ginny, Neville, and Saffron (who had come in late and been chewed out by Professor Sprout as well as lost points for Gryffindor) all worked together. Neville laughed at the three girls. Their nails all were roaring at different times and Professor Sprout kept shooting them nasty looks. Cassie didn't exactly understand why although she suspected it had something to do with the roaring that kept issuing from their corner. She wished that she could have used a spell to silence hers, but in the presence of the other students, she couldn't ask Ginny to do it, so she just had to put up with it. 

  
  


Cassie discovered fairly early on in the lesson why this greenhouse smelled so different. The potting soil they were using had an earthy smell to it that was very unusual but it was when Neville opened the bag of dragon-dung fertilizer that she knew what the smell really was. Apparently, from what she could read on the bag as it sat next to her pot, this was guaranteed to treat all her magical plants right, and produce the biggest blooms, strongest vines, and most potent potions ingredients as any fertilizer on the market. Well, that was good. No use doing anything in half measures. 

Forty-five minutes later they left the greenhouses, walking as a group back to the castle, and Cassie's head was whirling. She had seen things in that greenhouse that she could not believe. The seedlings they had been repotting had screamed if they were handled badly and apparently her previous experience had not prepared her for such tender things. Her plants had screamed basically from the first time she had laid a gloved finger on them until she had finally walked away a few minutes ago. They had squirted out all sorts of nasty foul-smelling goo, "tar" Neville had called it, which had landed in her hair and on her face and even the professor had laughed when one of them actually bit her finger and refused to let go until Ginny had stupefied it through her gales of laughing. Cassie was grateful that it had been her wand hand the plant had sunk its sharp little teeth into. No one had expected her to stupefy the plant herself. But that was the only thing she was grateful for. The class had been a nightmare, honestly, and she decided that she would have to do something else the next time Herbology was on her schedule. Ginny should have at least warned her that plants in the magical world were not anything like the ones she was used to, but Cassie wasn't mad. How could she be? Ginny had been great the entire day. And besides. Now she had a few hours where she could do anything she wanted - and she could guarantee that it wouldn't be anything to do with plants. Saffron, however, didn't share Cassie's happy state of mind. She was complaining the entire walk back to the castle about some assignment she had done badly on. 

Cassie listened with some interest. Saffron was her roommate after all and she wanted to know as much as possible about her so that she didn't make a mistake. "Anyway, I'm sure my father will find out about my grades. I think someone in this school keeps him informed and he somehow thinks my grades are a reflection on him. So I'll be in big trouble. I'll probably get another howler which will be even more of an embarrassment . . . ." Cassie couldn't hear any more after that because the girl had fallen back to continue her talk with her friend. She wondered what a howler was but didn't dare ask. 

Hermione was waiting in the entrance hall when Cassie, Ginny, and the rest of the group entered a few minutes later. "Hey, Pia. How was Herbology?" The smile on her face was tinged with a bit of laughter, but Cassie laughed, too. She bet she had looked quite a sight before Ginny had helped clean her up. 

"It was great. You should have warned me, at least." 

"How could I? You didn't give me a chance to." Cassie thought back to her quick departure from lunch earlier. 

"You're right. I didn't." 

"Ginny's got Quidditch practice with Ron and Harry now until dinner, so I thought you and I could spend some time together." Ginny was hurrying up the stairs, calling down to her that she would see her at dinner and Cassie waved in response. 

"Okay. That sounds good. I want to get some letters written and things. But first can I go up and change shoes? Mine are wet from the snow." 

"Certainly. We'll go to the library, okay? I think you'll find it interesting." Cassie hid a smile behind a hand as she slipped her book bag up on her shoulder again. She remembered what Harry had said about Hermione's almost unhealthy obsession with the library. 

"I'm sure I will, too." 

"Have you got any homework?" 

"Um, well, yeah. I guess. Do I really have to do it, though? I mean it's not . . ."

"Of course you have to do it! You've got to turn it in like all the other students. And if you'll do your reading, maybe even a little bit ahead, you'll be even more prepared for your classes." 

Cassie didn't answer. She did not want to spend these few free hours doing homework just to keep up the show. Couldn't she just fail the dang classes? It wasn't like she cared if she didn't get good grades! Plus, she only had one essay for Remus's class and she was quite sure that even if she handed in blank parchment he wouldn't care. She did have some work to do for Herbology as the professor had been quite disgusted at her lack of knowledge about the particular plant they had been working on today. But that didn't seem like it would take all weekend. And she still had Saturday and Sunday to do it anyway. Finally, she said, "Well, I can see your point. But I do really need to get a letter written to my parents." 

"Oh, of course, that was thoughtless of me. You should be careful, though, what you write. Owl post has been known to be intercepted." Cassie had a sudden nervous jolt in her stomach. She was in hiding and couldn't even spill out all her frustration and fear and things in letters home to her parents. Well, she would just have to do her best. Hermione saw that she had upset Cassie a little bit. "Don't worry about it. It's a small chance. Anyway, I'm not even sure that Dumbledore will have you use owl post. He may have something else in mind." Cassie felt a little better, although now she really was not sure if she would even be able to send letters home. Maybe it would be too dangerous. But she would just go on as though she could. Maybe Remus could take them, if nothing else. 

Hermione seemed quite distressed that she had even brought it up. "Look, don't worry. I'm sure Dumbledore knows what to do. Don't spend time worrying about that. Anyway, I'd like to give you a long guided tour of the library. That'll be fun, don't you think?" 

"Yeah, great." She tried to sound enthusiastic and it must have worked because Hermione was smiling broadly as Cassie left her sitting in the common room as she ran up to her room to change shoes. Rhiannon was sitting on her bed, reading some type of magazine, when Cassie got into the room. "Hi, Rhiannon." 

"Hi. I've heard all sorts of things about you today." 

"You have?" Cassie was momentarily nervous. The girl did not seem pleased with this.

"Yes. Apparently you are making quite an entrance. For your first day." 

"I'm sure it's just because I'm new here." 

"Yeah. Maybe." She turned back to her magazine and Cassie realized she was being dismissed. Hm. Was the other girl jealous? Cassie didn't know exactly but she made a mental note to get to know the girl better. She seemed very fun and nice, if not tops in the academic department. 

Cassie ran quickly down the steps again. Hermione was talking to some other girls Cassie hadn't met. "Oh, Pia, come meet my roommates. This is Lavender Brown and Pavarti Patil. This is Ron's cousin, Pia Spencer." 

"Hi." The three of them smiled rather awkwardly at each other. The two girls were very pretty and Cassie felt a little bedraggled next to them. Her hair and face had been cleaned by some type of scouring spell at the greenhouses, but it had done nothing to restore the curl in her hair or replace the makeup on her face. Hermione looked between the three of them, apparently sensing the tension. 

"Come on, Pia. Let's go. Bye, Lavender, Pavarti. I'll see you at dinner. And I'll be happy to help you with that Arithmency homework." Then they were out the portrait hole and alone in the hallway. "What was that about?" 

"I don't know. I've never seen them before. But they didn't seem to like me too much." 

Hermione walked quietly for a minute. "Well, never mind. I'm sure we just misread them. Why wouldn't they like you?" Cassie thought about Rhiannon's reaction to her in their room and thought that Hermione was very perceptive except when it came to other girls' jealousy of someone moving in on their perceived territory of boys. All three of them obviously thought that she was going to be stealing their boyfriends or something. They wouldn't worry if they knew that the only boy she was interested in was not even attending this school. And she couldn't tell them, either. After all, he was supposed to be her cousin! What a predicament she was in now. Oh, well, it would work out when they saw that she was not trying to flirt with or date any of the boys they thought were so cute. 

They made their way through the maze of hallways and staircases, passing several students who Hermione waved to or spoke with briefly. Cassie was impressed at how she seemed to be liked and respected by students from all the houses and of all different ages. She commented on this to Hermione but she only flushed pink. "That's not true, I'm afraid. There are a lot of people who hate me here. We've just been lucky with the people we've run into." 

"Why would they hate you?" Hermione flushed a little. 

"You know enough about this world to have that figured out. I don't really have to tell you." 

"Oh. It's because you're Muggle-born, isn't it?" 

"Yeah. There are people who just cannot accept . . . Well, eventually they'll have to, but right now, they just hate us." Cassie could see that despite the brave front Hermione projected, it hurt her that she couldn't be accepted for what she was. Cassie felt bad for her and wished that she could do something to fix it, but of course she couldn't. However, she knew that she had to do one thing to make something right and thought that Hermione could probably offer her some advice on how to do it. 

"Speaking of Muggle-borns, Hermione. I think I really hurt Colin Creevey's feelings earlier today. I didn't mean to." She wound up telling Hermione the whole story about the pictures on the broom and with the unicorn and how he remembered her and how she had panicked that he would give away her secret accidentally and everything. Hermione listened without comment, although her expression got hard a couple of times during the telling. 

"Well, I can't really tell you what to say to him exactly, but I will tell you that Colin can be trusted. He's in the D.A. and he's a really good guy. He won't give away your secret." 

"So you think I should tell him everything?"

"No. Not everything. Just enough to make him realize that he isn't a prat and that you don't think he is one." 

Cassie would have asked for more advice about how to do this, but then they were at the library doors, and Hermione got a look very akin to rapture on her face as they entered. They found a table in the back of the library and Hermione pulled out a very heavy looking book and dived right in, starting to scribble notes almost immediately. They sat there for a few minutes, Cassie looking around at the room, enjoying the feeling of wonder and mystery in this room. For she imagined, and she certainly could not have been far off, that answers to questions she would never even know to ask were hidden in these books. And she understood, to some degree, Hermione's love of this place. However, the witch she was just contemplating was now scowling at her and Cassie jumped in surprise. "What?" 

"That noise. What is that infernal noise?" 

Cassie was taken aback, unsure what she meant. Then she realized that Hermione could hear the lions on her fingernails roaring. The sound that had been barely audible in the noise of the greenhouses now echoed slightly and other students nearby were looking around, trying to figure out what the noise was. "Uh, it's my fingernails. They roar. For the game tomorrow." 

Hermione pinched her lips in obvious disapproval. "Well, quiet them down immediately." 

"Yeah. Good idea. I'll just pull my wand out and do that, shall I?" Her voice was soft so that only Hermione could hear her, but the witch blanched. She pulled out her wand, laying it on the table. 

"Quietus." She scowled again, shaking her head at what Cassie imagined was frustration at having to put up with such childish behavior when lives were at stake, but she could have sworn that when she thought Cassie couldn't see, Hermione grinned to herself. And any feelings of guilt Cassie had had a moment ago vanished. She decided it was time to get to work. She had some letters to write. 

Cassie pulled out her parchment and George's letter. Then she looked rather sideways at Hermione and pulled out an item she had secreted in the pocket of her bookbag before she had even left home. It was a package of ball point pens. She just refused to write with that quill if she could help it. She reread the letter slowly, savoring it now that she had the time, and thinking about all the things she wanted to say back to him. The envelope was still stashed at the bottom of the bag and she had ripped off the greeting, signature, and P.S. at the bottom of the letter right after breakfast. So, there was nothing to indicate who it was from or to if the letter was found by someone else. 

She read it through twice and then took the cap off the pen and set it against the parchment. "Dear G.W. I am here and so far am having a pretty good time." She stopped and looked at the line she had written. She went back and rewrote over it, trying to get her new writing on top of the old. She scowled in frustration and traced the "Dear GW" again. And again. And she realized why wizards write with quill pens. "Drat, drat, drat." Hermione looked up from her book and saw what Cassie was doing. She smiled kindly. 

"Sorry. There's no way around it. I've even tried enchanting the pens to release more ink. They still don't write well on the parchment. I think it's because the parchment is so bumpy and the ink only catches on the raised bumps so your letters are only half there. The quills aren't that bad." 

"That's easy for you to say." Hermione just smiled in response to the frustration in Cassie's tone. "Can't you get me some regular paper, or smooth this out or something?" 

"No to the regular paper, and I can smooth out the parchment a bit but it doesn't help. Trust me, I've tried it. Several different times." 

Cassie scowled and reached into her bag again to pull out the bottle of ink and the quill pen. She looked at them with loathing and then opened the ink and dipped the point in. By the time she was done with her letter to George, her hands were ink-stained and she had several large drips down the front of her robes. Worse, in her opinion, was the horrible way the letter looked. It was barely legible and she was very worried about sending it to him. He would certainly be suspicious that a witch couldn't write better than this and the fact that she was a Muggle was not something she wanted to announce in this letter. Of course, maybe she wouldn't have to. Maybe he would figure it out himself looking at her horrible penmanship. She remembered how pretty Harry's had looked when he had written for her and she wished she could do it as well. 

"Hermione. Help." Hermione looked up again and laughed, smothering it in her hands as another student looked up from a nearby table. 

"You are a mess! You've got ink all over you. Does the parchment look as bad as you do?" Cassie nodded miserably, wishing she could be mad at Hermione for laughing, but knowing that she was undoubtedly a mess and wishing for all the world that she could look as neat as Hermione did after writing for an hour. "Well, here. I'll clean you up quickly." Hermione muttered a spell under her breath after laying her hand on her wand which was laying on the table. Cassie looked down and saw that all the ink had been removed from her hands and robes. The parchment, however, still looked just as bad. And she didn't want to have to show it to Hermione and have her rewrite it or anything. Maybe Ginny would do it for her? No. This was her brother, after all. But her worries were for nothing as Hermione continued. "I worked out a spell first year that really helps with cleaning up your parchments. It's important since the word 'eraser' is completely unheard of here at Hogwarts but the teachers can still grade you for neatness. Doesn't seem fair." She pointed her wand at the parchment and said a variation of the spell she had used a moment before although Cassie couldn't quite catch what was different about it. Cassie looked down at her letter a moment later and was extremely gratified to see that although her letters were still formed a little strangely, the random ink spots and smears were all gone. It was still a little childish looking but it was not intolerable. 

"Thanks! It looks great!" 

"No problem. I'll teach it to Ginny so she can help you in class and things for the first few days."

"She doesn't know it already?" 

"No." Hermione got a rather pained look on her face and Cassie thought for a moment that it was disgust. "For some reason, those blasted witches and wizards don't have any trouble with the quills. Maybe it's because they've used them all their lives. Even Harry didn't struggle much with it. It was just me, the Muggle-born one, that had problems." 

"Oh. I'm sorry about that." 

"Yeah. Well. I've learned. Magic can compensate for a lot of personal inadequacies." She looked down at her book again and Cassie looked back at the letter, rereading it one more time to make sure that she said everything she wanted to and nothing that she didn't. 

  
  


"Dear G.W., I am here and so far am having a good time. The people are very nice and my classes have been fun. I had Potions, DADA, and Herbology today. Potions was not too bad although Snape assigned me to work with a Slytherin boy. I think he was trying to make me miserable but I showed him. We made the potion perfectly and he never took any points from me during the entire class. Ron says I was bloody brilliant and Harry and Hermione were impressed although they are anxious for me to try to blend in better. DADA was great with Remus. He puts all of us under the Imperious spell (Is that spelled right?) and we tried to resist it. I did all right although I did give in at the end. Herbology was terrible. I don't think the professor liked me very much. Now I have free time and I'm writing you this letter. 

By the way, as your cousin, I should warn you about being too familiar with girls, especially me. People may get the wrong idea of our time we spent together at your shop. It was fun and I want to come back there, too, but it will certainly be a while before I can visit you and cousin Fred again. Although if you could send me more dragon_Kisses_, _I _would absolutely _Love_ it. Well, maybe not. Don't want to take advantage of _You_. 

Be sure to call me by my proper name, Pia Spencer. Your little joke of calling me by your pet name for me confused the owl and caused a great deal of uproar at the Gryffindor table as it was delivered during breakfast in front of everyone else. No one else calls me that, you see. Sincerely, Pia" 

  
  


The letter seemed okay to her. It didn't give anything away to anyone who was reading it. And the underlined words would be random enough, hopefully, that they would just look like the typical writing of a young teenage girl. She would try to send this out via owl post tonight. She couldn't risk having him send her another letter addressed by her real name. Especially if owl post could be intercepted. That would be a disaster. She then moved on to the much easier task of writing to her parents. 

She told them briefly about her classes and how nice everyone was to her. She talked a little about magic but she treated it as though it were normal and expected and thought that if anyone read this letter, they would just assume it was being written by a witch who was a little bit homesick but otherwise enjoying school. She did sign the letter using the name Pia and underlined it but figured that they wouldn't think that was all that peculiar as that was the name they often called her. She had always hated it before although she was getting used to it now and didn't mind it nearly as much as she would have imagined. She hoped they got the hint. 

Of course, she made just as much of a mess with this letter as she had with the first and nudged Hermione when she was done for both spells. Hermione smiled broadly at the again ink-stained girl and did both cleaning spells. Cassie was grateful that she didn't ask who the second letter was for as she had only mentioned the letter to her parents. 

When both letters were folded and placed into the bookbag to be dealt with later, Cassie pulled out her book about magical plants. The book seemed a lot less inviting now than it had before Herbology class, but she thumbed through it all the same, identifying both the plant that had tried to eat her at the beginning of class and the one that she had wrestled with for the greater part of an hour. The pictures of both of them were moving and Cassie decided that they looked just a little too realistic for her tastes, quickly moving to pages with nasty plants she had not yet encountered at school. 

Finally, Hermione shut her book. "Are you ready for our tour?" Cassie smiled and tried to look enthusiastic. "All right. Then I've got to go see Dumbledore about a few things so I'll take you back to the common room when we're done here." 

"We can pass on the tour if you want." Earlier, Cassie had actually been looking forward to seeing what sort of books and things were in a wizard library, but right now she was tired and nothing sounded quite as nice as curling up for a nap on the couch by the Gryffindor fire. However, she was willing to do it if Hermione wanted to and she seemed set on it, so they spent about half an hour looking at various sections of books. Cassie was impressed with the thousands of books in the library, many of which looked to be hundreds of years old or more and even included colorful and ornately drawn illuminated manuscripts. Their tour included the restricted section which Hermione apparently had a pass to as Head Girl. Cassie tried not to jump too far or get too disgusted at some of the really repulsive books Hermione insisted on showing her. The librarian, a thin-nosed woman who seemed extremely paranoid about her books, had walked by a few times as they were bent over some particularly gruesome volume, and Cassie breathed a quiet sigh of relief when they finally left the room. 

The common room was a little crowded, but no one looked at her funny as she curled up on the couch the way she had imagined and enjoyed the warmth of the blazing fire for a few minutes. Hermione assured her she would be back soon but also told Cassie that it wouldn't be terribly long before the other three were back from practice and then they could all go to dinner together.

Cassie was worried that she might fall asleep, which she thought might be quite embarrassing. However, she didn't need to worry. No less than three students came over to her, introducing themselves, and commenting that they had heard what had happened in Potions that morning and admired her courage (all right, one said that she thought Cassie had been downright stupid) and Cassie blushed furiously with each accolade. She remembered Harry telling her that when you went to a school as small as Hogwarts, it was nearly impossible to keep secrets and she realized anew that she would have to be very careful. Even the slightest hint of a rumor could grow to gigantic proportions within hours. That thought scared her more than any she had had the entire afternoon and she wondered for probably the five hundredth time if she was up to the task that people were expecting her to perform. 

Just when she was starting to question the wisdom of her being here at all, though, the portrait hole opened and Colin Creevey stepped inside. Great. She had made one fairly large error that day and that was an error that she had to correct. Of course, she had no idea of how she was going to go about doing that, but she had to try, at least. The subject of her thoughts had stopped next to a table of fourth year boys and she shifted on the couch as she prepared to stand, intending to ask him to speak to her for a moment. However, before she could actually even stand to move in his direction, the portrait opened again and this time the three people she was waiting for slipped through the entrance and she smiled broadly. 

They were muddy, wet, and obviously wind blown, but laughing, faces glowing from the exertion of what had obviously been a long practice session for tomorrow's match. They carried their brooms in gloved hands and all wore protective leather-looking padding over their robes. They didn't see her immediately and she watched with undisguised curiosity as they moved into the center of the room. Harry and Ginny's hands were interlocked and Ron looked around expectantly, obviously thinking Hermione would be here waiting for him. And despite herself, Cassie felt a pang of what had to be jealousy shoot through her. Harry. He looked now as she had never seen him before. And her heart ached at the thought that she would almost certainly never see him again like that after tomorrow. 

He was smiling, relaxed, and she understood as she had not done that long day the four of them, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and herself, had spent in Harry's house last June, why he asked about the Quidditch team. He loved the game. That was a simple and obvious fact. She had seen glimpses of that passion before the battle, when he had fingered his robes and his broom but that had been different. His passion now was for nothing but the game, the love of the game, and the love of the girl at his side. He looked at Ginny and Cassie's breath caught. He had looked at Cassie once like that before and she had been awed at the intensity and the purity of his gaze. She wondered for the briefest of moments if she had made the right decision, sending him back to Ginny. Would she have wanted to be standing there, holding hands with him? Oh, yes. Definitely yes. But she could not be. Could never be. She would have just been able to watch, not carry her own broom and fly beside him. And that knowledge made her certain. She allowed the ache for a moment. But then her smile reasserted itself and she stood. 

"Hey, guys. I'm here." 

"Oh, Pia. We're all a mess. We've got to head up and change. Where's Hermione? We thought she was with you this afternoon." 

"She said she had to go see Professor Dumbledore about something. I'm not sure what. But she said she'd come back here and then we'd all go to dinner together." 

"Sounds good." Harry and Ginny, hands still linked, headed toward the staircases, where they separated with what looked like a thorough kiss before heading up to their respective showers. Ron, however, looked around again, as though expecting his girlfriend to suddenly appear. Cassie smiled. 

"She's fine, Ron. She'll be here in a minute. How was practice?" She thought that was probably what was bothering him. He didn't have anyone to boast to if practice had gone well -- which it almost certainly had considering how happy the three of them had looked. 

He looked at her, rather surprised at her question. "Great. I didn't let one single Quaffle through. Not one. Tomorrow may be a shut-out. If Harry can catch the Snitch fast enough." 

"That's fantastic. I'm glad. I'm looking forward to tomorrow's match." Cassie had no idea what Ron had said but since he had said it was great and it was obviously not sarcasm, then it was fairly easy to make agreement noises, like she had full understanding of every word. And he beamed under her admiration. She smiled kindly at him and, for the second time that day, had a momentary empathy for Hermione's feelings. Ron was a great guy. In fact, he reminded her a lot of someone else. She guessed that shouldn't have been surprising. They were brothers, after all. 


	14. Conversations

Chapter 14

Conversations

A moment later, the girl Ron had been waiting for slipped through the portrait hole. The red-head smiled broadly and walked over to meet her. Hermione smiled back at him, reaching up to brush some mud off his face before she lifted her face up for his kiss. Cassie smiled to herself as she watched them. She couldn't think of two people more opposite in personality but that didn't seem to matter. They were obviously deeply in love. 

They separated after a brief moment and walked over to where Cassie was standing. "How did it go with Professor Dumbledore?" 

"It went very well. I'll tell you all about it when we can have some privacy." Cassie wondered where that was. Privacy seemed to be in short supply around here, but she imagined that Hermione had something in mind so she didn't question her. "Anyway, he told me what to have you do about letters home to your parents, so you don't have to worry about that at all." 

"Okay. Thanks for checking. I'd like to send that letter home." Hermione and Ron walked away, toward the stairs themselves and Cassie glanced around the common room. Colin was still there and Cassie knew that now was the best time to speak to him, before this went on any longer and got even more complicated. She approached him slowly, a little bit nervous. She still hadn't decided what she was going to say and hoped for inspiration to strike as she wended her way across the room. It didn't but then she was standing at his elbow and knew that she would just have to wing it. He was speaking to a boy who was about a head shorter than he was and looked quite a bit younger. Colin stopped talking and looked at her. Cassie chewed on her lower lip and then wished she hadn't. She knew it made her look like a little girl and right now she needed to look confident. "Uh, Colin. Can I talk to you for a minute? Privately." 

"Sure. I'll catch up with you in a few minutes, Dennis, if you just want to head to dinner."

"Okay." 

"Sorry to interrupt your conversation."

"That's all right. That's my brother, Dennis. He won't mind." 

"Oh! How nice to have a brother here!" 

Colin looked at her rather strangely at that comment. "It's not unusual to have families here. After all, you're here with your cousins and everything." Oh, yeah. Of course. And as she thought about it for a second she realized there were a lot of siblings attending here. She was alone, but of course Colin didn't know that. Yet. 

"Well, actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." 

"All right. I'm listening." His expression was not exactly closed, but Cassie could definitely tell he was not too thrilled to be talking to her again. It hurt to see that because he had been so friendly the time she had met him before. And she knew she had caused this. 

"Um, when I saw you in June . . . and Harry told you I was a Muggle-born friend of Ginny's . . . That was the actual truth." The irony of this situation was not lost on her. She was telling him one lie to get out of his believing another lie she had told him. His eyes grew wide as she said this. 

"So, what's the point of the whole . . ." His voice trailed off, questioning, but he gestured at her hair. 

"I, uh, got myself into a spot of trouble a few days ago. Well, a lot of trouble actually. And, um, I had to hide here. Dumbledore knew I would be safe here and so he brought me, but I can't use my real name." 

  
  


"What sort of trouble?"

"I can't tell you, Colin. I really can't. It has to do with Voldemort, though." Colin flinched at the name. "Oh, sorry. I . . . I use his name." 

"So you're hiding here?"

"Yes, but see if people found out I was here, I mean, my name and everything . . . They would try to kill me." Cassie could barely get the next words out. "And my family." 

"Okay. Well, that would be bad. So I understand the fake name thing, but . . ."

"I needed some reason why I came to school in the middle of the year and why I'm hanging out with Ginny so much." She hoped he didn't ask why exactly she was hanging out with Ginny so much. If she really had been a witch, she could be a lot more independent and wouldn't need to be permanently attached to Ginny or one of the others. But he didn't ask, so she continued her story. "So we thought that if we said I was her cousin, that it would be a bit more believable. So, if I'm a Weasley. . . "

"That explains the reddish hair." 

"Yeah. But it also explains, Colin, the pure-blood thing. You see, I guess in their family, everyone's pure blood and so to say I was Muggle-born wouldn't have worked. Does that make sense?"

"It makes sense." He was looking a lot happier, now, and Cassie felt a little of the tight band of guilt that had been bothering her all afternoon loosen.

"I wasn't supposed to tell anybody and that's why I didn't tell you the truth right away. But later I asked Hermione and she said I could trust you." Colin beamed at this compliment and Cassie smiled. "So, call me Pia and please don't mention about the Muggle-born thing, okay?" 

"All right. I can do that. Um, Pia. When you were here in June . . . I thought you were really pretty, then. I loved taking your picture. I mean, you're still pretty, but . . ." He was blushing and Cassie felt herself blush along with him. 

"Oh, well, thank you."

"Well, I mean, I got the idea that you and Harry . . . um, Harry didn't want me to, uh . . . But, he's Ginny's boyfriend now, and so, maybe now he wouldn't object . . . ." He trailed off, again, his face quite pink. "Would you, I mean, maybe we could . . . uh, could we . . ." Cassie had a feeling that she knew what he was going to say. He wanted to ask her out. But she didn't know how to answer him, so she didn't interrupt him and put him out of his misery. He was a nice guy, but trying to date him could be a real disaster. And, although she didn't want to admit it, she wasn't interested in anyone but a certain "cousin" right now. He finally got his words together. "Um, are you going to the Quidditch match tomorrow?" 

"Yes, I think so." 

"Can we sit together?" Cassie didn't know what to say to that. She wanted to decline because she was a little nervous about disclosing her ignorance of the game to someone else and she didn't really want to encourage him into thinking that she was interested in him, but maybe it would work out for something else she had in mind. 

"Uh, yes. But I already promised Hermione I'd sit with her. Is that okay?" He masked his disappointment quickly. 

"Sure. Why not? Shall we meet in the common room?" 

"Yes, thank you. I should warn you, though. I really don't know anything about Quidditch." She watched him carefully to see if that was totally bizarre but he didn't react strangely at all. 

"That's okay. I can tell you what's going on for the most part. It's good I'm coming with you, then, because you really can't count on Hermione Granger telling you anything. Drives Ron nuts that she seems determined to remain ignorant about the strategy of the game." 

"Oh. Yeah. I guess it would. He seems to really like it." Colin laughed. 

"Likes it? That's an understatement." Just as he was going to continue, Hermione and Ginny descended into the common room and Colin broke off, not wanting to embarrass Hermione. 

"I better go meet Dennis, or he'll wonder what happened to me. I'll see you in the morning, then?" 

"Sure. Maybe at dinner, too?" 

"Okay." His face pinkened again and Cassie flushed as well. Ginny noticed and looked at Cassie with raised eyebrows. 

"I think he likes you. Do you think he's cute?"

"He's very nice, but . . ." Ron came up behind Hermione and Cassie stopped talking. 

"I'm starved. Let's go down before there's no more food." Hermione laughed in response to Ron's worry. 

"Don't worry. Until you get there, there's always plenty."

Harry, who was standing behind Ron, laughed along with everyone else, although Ron looked perturbed at the insinuation that he ate too much. "Come on. I'm starved, too." 

The five of them headed down to dinner. Cassie felt a lot happier now that this first day was over and although the other four were chatting happily about the match tomorrow and she was trying to listen, she mainly let her mind wander over the events of the day. As they entered the Great Hall, she was taken aback. It was more full than she had ever seen it and she felt her stomach do a nervous flip-flop as it was brought home to her all the people she was trying to fool with her pitiful acting ability. Certainly at least one of them would see through her act. Certainly she would be discovered. Ginny looked at her and must have caught some of the panic in her eyes. She smiled encouragingly and they all went to sit down. Cassie sat down next to Ginny, grateful she was there. 

Ron was very excited about the fact they were having fried chicken for dinner and Cassie and Ginny both laughed as he grabbed two drumsticks, one in each hand and attacked his food with gusto. Cassie caught Hermione's eye and they both shook their heads at his antics. Ron, who had taken a moment between bites to look up, saw Cassie's expression and turned to look at Hermione's shaking head. He gave both an indignant look.

"What? I'm hungry!"

Both girls giggled and continued to eat. After a slight moment, Ron forgot his embarrassment and again began to eagerly eat. Harry was sitting on Ginny's other side, which meant Cassie couldn't see how much he was eating, but she was fairly surprised at the quantity of food Ginny was putting onto her plate. Ginny explained between bites that playing Quidditch took a lot out of a person and that they all ate a lot after practice or a match. Cassie had finished her meal which, although she was very full, looked minuscule next to the amount of food the three Quidditch players were consuming when she felt Ginny stiffen next to her. "What does he want?" she muttered and Cassie looked up to where Ginny was looking and saw a boy crossing the hall toward the Gryffindor table. Well, boy probably wasn't the right word. He was close to Harry and Ron's age. The tension coming off Ginny was palpable and Cassie wondered who he was. Then her question was answered. 

"Malfoy. What do you want?" Harry's voice was low and tense but that wasn't what upset Cassie. This must be Draco. He was the main one she was having to hide her real identity from and now here he was, standing no more than five feet from her and looking her over very carefully. She plastered a smile on her face to cover the absolute revulsion she felt toward him and looked him over with similar care. He was tall, not as tall as Ron, but perhaps two inches taller than Harry. He was thin and his pale face had a pinched look, like he was angry about something. 

"None of your business, Potter, but you can't fault me for wanting to be sociable." 

"Sociable!" Ron looked like he was about to have a fit of apoplexy as he had turned in his seat and was glaring up at Malfoy. He wanted to stand up, it was obvious to Cassie, so that he wouldn't be looking up at the blonde but as Malfoy was practically leaning over his shoulder, Ron couldn't figure out how to do it. 

"Yes, Weasley. Sociable. Wanted to welcome your cousin into our little Hogwarts family." Cassie's stomach was churning and she really wished she hadn't eaten as much as she had. She tried to determine whether he was being sarcastic and whether he actually knew who she was and was trying to torment her before he called his father down onto her head. As far as she could tell, though, he was being sincere, although his comments were snide and his tone was more like a sneer than a normal voice. "Caden told me that you're his new Potions lab partner." She nodded, not trusting that her voice wouldn't tremble. "He said you were pretty, for a Weasley. Not that that's saying much." His eyes scanned over Ginny quickly before focusing on Cassie again. "He was right, though." 

"That was a backhanded compliment, I believe. I don't think I will thank you for it." 

His eyes narrowed. "I don't like red hair much, but yours isn't bad." Ron had apparently decided that he had had enough of sitting while Malfoy leered over his head at both Ginny and Cassie. He stood up, uncaring that Draco had to move backwards and that they were now standing very close to each other."

"Go away, Malfoy. My cousin doesn't want anything to do with you, you can be sure of that!" 

"She seems capable of speaking for herself. She hasn't said any such thing." Everyone turned to look at Cassie, who suddenly felt like she was on display. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw several other students at the table looking between her and Malfoy, curious to see what they could possibly have to say to each other. 

"Ron's right. I will not sit here and listen to you insult my family."

"So you actually claim them, hm? It looks like your family at least has the ability to keep you in decent robes rather than third-hand ones like your cousins wear." This time, he was very definitely looking her over, and Cassie lifted her chin. He was a rude, arrogant git and he wasn't going to get away with these insults. 

"Please leave. I happen to love my cousins and I don't care anything about your opinion of them. So go away." Draco smirked. 

"Fine, fine. Don't get yourself all distressed. You'll give yourself wrinkles." He turned and walked away and all five friends (as well as a number of other people) watched him walk across the room, back toward the Slytherin table. Cassie glanced at Niles, who had a fairly concerned look on his face. His eyes were moving between Draco's self-satisfied smirk and the upset expressions on the faces of Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Harry, and Cassie. He tried to shoot her an apologetic glance but Cassie ignored it. Right now she was just angry at everybody and especially at Niles who had talked about her to that idiot. 

"Oh, that was fun. Maybe we can do that every day at dinner," Ginny said to the table in general and everyone laughed. But then in a much quieter voice, she said to Cassie. "You're going to have to be careful. Despite the fact that he was being a real jerk about it, I think he was trying to flirt with you. He may really think you're cute." Cassie shuddered. 

"He's . . . disgusting. I wouldn't touch him with a 20-foot pole." 

Ginny nodded. "Yeah. Just be careful. He's used to getting what he wants." 

Cassie's hands were shaking and it took her quite a long while to calm down before she felt she could walk out of the hall with any sort of dignity. "Your robes don't look third-hand to me. What did he mean?" She asked Ginny as they stood to leave the table. 

"Well, truthfully, the first couple of years I was here we did kind of wear older robes. My dad just doesn't make a lot of money at his job and there were a lot of us to take care of. But, now Fred and George help us out and we can afford new robes every year. Just shows you what an idiot he is. He hasn't even noticed that and it's been three years since I had to have anything second-hand." 

"I take it that his family has a lot of money."

"Richer than Croesus, I think the expression is. Even though his father is a known Death Eater and theoretically his estate should be forfeit, it doesn't seem to matter." Ginny looked fairly disgusted and Cassie didn't blame her. 

"That's not fair." 

"No, it's not, but that's all right. I'd rather be poor in my family than rich and be related to that bunch." Both girls laughed.

"But I thought you were related to him." Ginny got a horrified look on her face. 

"Well, we are but it's so distant that we certainly don't admit it. And you can be positive they don't!" Cassie laughed again at Ginny's shudder. They all started to talk, then, deciding what they were going to do in the evening. They split up a few minutes later with Ron, Harry, and Hermione heading up to the common room and the two younger girls promising to join them in a few minutes. Ron challenged Harry to a game of Wizard Chess and Hermione announced she had to help her roommates with their homework. 

"Uh, Ginny. Remember that letter I got this morning?"

"Of course I do. Did you write him back?"

"Yes, but I don't know how to send it. I mean, I've used an owl before, but it was a return and I'm not sure how to do it from here." 

"It's easy. If you don't own an owl you can use the school's." 

"The school's?" 

"Yeah. They're in the owlery. Let's go on up and I'll help you get your letter off." They walked across the hall and started up a narrow staircase. They climbed up at least three flights and Cassie thought that maybe this was a bad idea. She imagined that an owlery was high and she hoped that her legs would hold out until she got up there. They didn't talk very much because Cassie, at least, wanted to conserve her breath for the climb. It was about the fifth floor up that Ginny stopped on the stairs suddenly, looking back at Cassie with a small O on her mouth. 

"You got that letter by owl!"

"Uh-huh." Cassie wasn't sure where Ginny was going with this comment. She had been there this morning. 

"You're writing back and sending it with an owl!"

"Yes. And . . ."

"You're writing to a wizard!" 

"Oh. Uh. Yes. A wizard." 

  
  


"I thought Harry was the first wizard you'd ever met." Ginny was looking at her with slightly narrowed eyes. 

"He was. Well, the first one that I knew about. But I met this guy later." 

"I see. How far does this letter have to go?" 

"What?"

"Where does he live?"

"Oh, yeah. London." 

"Okay. We need a long-distance owl." Cassie laughed out loud, thinking Ginny was kidding. Ginny smiled. 

"I'm serious. Different owls do better for either long or short distances."

"Makes sense, I guess. I'm glad you're helping me. I wouldn't have a clue where to even start." They arrived at the owlery and Ginny pushed the door open. "Oh. Oh. Oh." Cassie was quite, um, well, shocked as she looked around the room. It was just a big room with a very tall ceiling. And it was absolutely freezing in there. The room had no windows, no heat, no decorations. What it did have was a lot of owls. Cassie estimated that there had to be at least 100 of them perched on stands of varying heights. She had expected owls - in a place called the owlery, she would have been stupid not to. But, along with owls come all sorts of things she had not thought about, rather unpleasant things. Droppings were thick on the floor and she had to watch carefully where she put her feet. She couldn't avoid them altogether, though, and she tried not to be too disgusted by this. There were also bones of all sorts of small creatures all over the floor and she could feel and hear them crunching under her shoes. The owls were looking at them as they walked through and Cassie felt unaccountably nervous that they would suddenly fly at her and start pecking. Some of them were quite large. Ginny didn't seem nervous at all, though, so Cassie tried to follow her example. She shuddered as she heard a particularly loud crunch under her shoe, though, and hurried as fast as she could to a relatively clean area by the wall where Ginny was looking at a large black owl. 

"This one looks like he'll do."

"Is this supposed to go in some sort of envelope? What do I write on the outside? I don't know his address or anything. What if I address it to his work rather than his home?" Cassie asked these questions quickly. She suddenly felt extremely nervous about actually admitting to Ginny that it was George this letter was meant for. She hoped that Ginny wouldn't make too big of a deal about it. 

"Hang on. Let me answer your questions. No reason to be in a rush here." 

"Yes there is. I'm freezing to death." 

"This won't take long. No envelope is needed. Just write his name on the outside and preferably a city or a house address or something. You say you know where he works?" 

"Yes." 

"Well, that will do. Of course, he probably won't get it until Monday, but maybe. It just depends." 

"Okay." Cassie pulled the parchment out of her robe pocket. George's name was already written on the outside, along with "Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, Diagon Alley, London." 

"I'll tie it on for you if you want." Ginny reached into a box on the wall and pulled out a piece of string. 

Cassie considered trying it herself, but the owl fixed a rather unfriendly looking eye on her and she decided it wasn't worth it. If Ginny was willing to do it, then more power to her. "All right. Here." Ginny glanced down at the writing and froze. She looked up at Cassie and her eyes got very wide. She didn't say anything for a minute, just tied the parchment onto the owl's leg, and said "George Weasley, the Burrow." 

They both walked, without saying a word, out of the freezing, dark room into the relative warmth of the corridor. "All right, Cassie. That letter was from George? My brother, George?" 

"Yes. I . . . well, your dad introduced us on one of the trips to Diagon Alley." They started down the steps with that comment. 

"I see." Ginny smiled widely, turning to look back at Cassie. "Do you like him?" Cassie nodded, a little hesitantly, unsure of what Ginny's reaction would be. "Does he like you?" She nodded again, even more hesitantly. "You're not sure he likes you?" 

"No. I know he likes me. I just . . . I just . . . . I'm not sure where it will go now." 

"Do you know how old he is?" Cassie felt rather exasperated with this question. Why was that the first thing everybody thought about? 

"He's 72! He's really aged well, don't you think?" She breathed heavily. This was getting very frustrating. "No seriously, Ginny. I know he's 19. Does that matter, though?" 

"Well, it doesn't matter, except that . . . um, well, he's older than you are."

"Yeah?"

"He's kind of . . . um, more experienced, you know what I mean?"

Cassie thought for a few seconds as they continued down the steps. "No. What do you mean, exactly?" Ginny's ears were kind of a bright red and it was a few minutes before she said anything. 

"I mean that he may want to do more than, um, hold hands with you." 

"Okay. Well, we've already kissed." 

Ginny whirled on the steps. "What! He's already kissed you?" She laughed, obviously not distressed with this news. "That's great!" Her face got all serious again, though, and she started down the steps again. 

"He's moving fast, then. I just don't want you to, um, get hurt or anything. He may be mainly interested in just, uh, you know . . . physical stuff." 

"George has treated me very nicely. I like him. I don't know what's going to happen now, but I want to give us a chance, you know? I'll be careful. My parents taught me to behave myself." 

"Okay. Look. I really love George. He's a fantastic guy."

Cassie smiled. "Yeah. He is."

"You told him to call you Pia if he writes you again?"

"Uh-huh. I also told him I'm now his cousin." Ginny laughed at that. 

"He probably won't be too excited to hear about that! But I guess it's only temporary." By now they were standing outside the portrait of the Fat Lady and a second later they had slipped into the warmth, noise, and happy chaos of the common room. They stood and looked around. Ron and Harry had apparently either finished their chess game or changed their mind about it, because neither of them were in the room. Hermione was with her two roommates, who had open books and parchments in front of them, and very unhappy expressions on their faces. Cassie supposed that Hermione was forcing them to do homework tonight as she had promised she would help them with it. And they seemed like the type who would prefer to be out on dates or something. 

Hermione noticed them, stood up, and walked over to the two of them. She spoke quietly to them. "Ron and Harry already went up. I think they're kind of nervous about tomorrow. Ron said that you should head up soon, too, Ginny." Ginny nodded. "But look, there's one more thing you two have to do tonight. Right now." 

"What's that?" Ginny asked, hiding a yawn behind her hand. 

"This. It's from Dumbledore. You can use the 7th year showers. I'll keep Lavender and Pavarti down here for at least another hour. I swear, I don't know why those two are taking Arithmency. They're absolutely hopeless at it." Hermione reached into her robe pocket and pulled out a vial, handing it to Cassie. 

"Um, what is it?"

"Hair dye, of course! Did you forget?" Her whisper was quiet, but her exasperation was evident anyway. Much to her chagrin, Cassie realized that she had indeed forgotten that Professor Dumbledore's spell would be wearing off soon. The two girls headed up to their room where they grabbed pyjamas, robes, toothbrushes, and the rest of their toiletries and headed up one flight of stairs to a new set of showers. 

Cassie was extremely nervous about dying her hair. She had never done it before. Ginny was also inexperienced and the vial did not come with instructions. However, Cassie just combed it in and then washed it out in the shower, and was very pleased with the results. The color was a perfect match to how it had looked before. Cassie stood in front of the mirror, brushing her teeth, waiting for Ginny to come out of the shower to help her dry her hair. It was very frustrating, needing to depend on someone else for such things. She had a sudden thought, though. 

A few minutes later, Ginny emerged from the shower and came over to the sink where Cassie was already working on her hair. "What are you doing?" 

"Braiding my hair. It can dry overnight and I won't have to worry about having you do it in the morning. In fact, I probably won't even shower in the morning since I just barely did." Ginny watched, fascinated, as Cassie's fingers wound her hair into a French braid down the center of her head. 

"That looks really good. And the braid will really help in the morning. I won't have to explain why I'm drying your hair again." 

Cassie finished the braid, tucking the raw end below the elastic up into the braid and patting her hair all over. "What do you think?"

That's just fantastic. Do you think my hair would do that?"

"Yeah, of course. French braiding always looks good, even with longer hair like yours. Do you want me to do it for you?" 

"Would you? It would be great for tomorrow's game. Usually it gets in my eyes, even when I put it back in a ponytail." 

Cassie was pleased to be able to do that for Ginny and 10 minutes later her red hair was tucked into a reverse French braid that continued down her back before the elastic finished it off. "Ooh. I love that. Could you teach me how to do it?" 

"Sure. But not tonight. I'm exhausted." They gathered up all their things and headed back down to their dorm room where they both crawled into bed. Cassie realized as she lay there that she had never asked Hermione how to send the letter to her parents that she had written today. Hermione had specifically said she wasn't to use owl post, but she hadn't told her what she would be using instead. She lay in the warmth of her bed for quite a few minutes, thinking that she had managed her entire first day at wizarding school, made a small name for herself in Potions, been cursed by a werewolf, been tasted by one plant and bitten by another, met the son of her worst wizarding enemy, made a kind of date with another boy, and confessed to Ginny that she liked her brother. A full day indeed. Actually, the letter she had written home had not really done an adequate job of conveying how interesting going to wizarding school really was. Maybe she should rewrite it tomorrow. Her last thought before she drifted into sleep was that of a giant quill chasing her around on a giant sheet of parchment and she smiled. 


	15. The Games Begin

Chapter 15

The Games Begin

Cassie opened her eyes the next morning and knew immediately that she had slept a lot later this morning than she had been able to yesterday. She pushed back the heavy curtains around her bed and squinted against the sudden brightness. Ginny was sitting on her bed, reading one of her textbooks. 

"Good morning, Ginny." 

"Hey, Pia. How did you sleep?" 

"Great. Aren't we running late, though?" It had to be at least 9, judging by the light. 

"No. Saturdays are a little more laid back. As long we are done eating and everything by 11. That's when I'm supposed to be down to the changing rooms." 

"Oh, yeah, the match." Cassie wasn't sure how much she was going to enjoy watching this. The entire school seemed to be really excited about the game but since she didn't have any idea what was going on, she was worried she was going to prove her ignorance in front of the rest of the school. 

"It should be great. We shouldn't really have any problem against Hufflepuff, although if you listen to Ron and Harry at breakfast, they'll convince you we're doomed. I think it's their way of trying not to get overconfident." 

"That's probably smart. Ron seemed pretty confident last night, though." 

"Yeah. He was. I don't think he's ever had such a good practice." 

"What does he do exactly?"

"He's the keeper . . ." She broke off because Saffron's curtains were suddenly thrust open and her dark head poked out, looking in their direction. 

"He's a really good keeper, too. I still think he should try to get onto a professional team." 

"Thanks. I'll tell him you said that. But you know he wants to be an Auror, Saffron." 

"I know. But there are lots of Aurors. His team could really use a good Keeper and lets face it, anyone decent is just not going to join up with them." They both laughed, apparently at some sort of inside joke and Cassie smiled broadly because she should probably be in on it, too. Saffron climbed out of her bed and came over to sit on the end of Ginny's bed, looking right at Cassie, who smiled at her but felt nervous. "Both of your hairdos look so good! Who did them?" 

"I did. Does it still look good?" Cassie patted her braid, checking to see if much of the hair had come out overnight, but it still felt all in place. 

"Yes. It looks great. I've been trying to convince Ginny to let me do something with her hair for a while. Glad she listened to her cousin if she won't listen to her friend." She paused, examining Cassie a little bit longer and Cassie almost felt like squirming under her steady gaze but resisted. "Hey, your nails aren't making noise." 

Cassie looked down, trying to look casual. "Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. I had to spell them quiet again yesterday afternoon when I went to the library with Hermione. The librarian kept walking by and glaring at me." 

"She would. I bet no other students were in there for you to even bother!"

"Hermione was there and I think she was happy when they were quiet." Saffron's mouth twisted with a slightly disgusted expression. 

"All that girl ever thinks about is school work." 

"Oh, I don't know about that, Saffron. I think she's managed to find something else to occupy her brain lately." Ginny closed her textbook after delivering that line and Saffron laughed.

"Yeah, you're right." She may have continued but both Elspeth and Rhiannon popped their heads out between their respective hangings and they all started talking about Ron and Hermione. Ginny just winked at Cassie and then joined right in the discussion. Cassie had a few comments to make as well. She thought they were a great couple and proceeded to tell the girls that, although Saffron didn't seem too impressed by the pairing. After several minutes of friendly gossip, everyone decided they had better get going if they wanted to eat anything decent at breakfast. 

While the other girls gathered up their stuff for showers and things, Ginny and Cassie were able to just get dressed. Cassie turned her back to the majority of the pictures on the walls as she hurriedly pulled her clothes on. She didn't quite trust this charm that Ginny had mentioned, especially as one of the cuter men in a picture over Rhiannon's bed kept winking at her. It was very disconcerting. She knew she was still going to have to go down to the bathroom to do her makeup and brush her teeth but she was greatly relieved that she wasn't going to have to worry about having Ginny dry her hair. Ginny had slipped on some pretty sloppy jeans and what she called a "Weasley sweater," rationalizing that she would have to change into her Quidditch robes in a couple hours anyway. But then she changed her mind. "My hair looks so good that I think I'll put on something decent this morning after all." 

"That's a good idea. I happen to know that Harry really likes hair in French braids." Suddenly, Cassie wanted to cover her mouth and hide under the bed. She tried not to mention the time she and Harry had been together when she was with Ginny. She always felt a little bit guilty about it although in her rational mind she knew that neither she nor Harry had done anything wrong. She just felt that if the situation were reversed, she would not want to be reminded that her boyfriend had really enjoyed kissing someone else. Ginny looked up at her rather sharply and there was a hot rush of color into her cheeks. "Oh, Ginny. I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to -"

"It's all right. I dated other boys, too, you know. It's just . . . . Does he really like the braids?" Her smile looked a little forced as she opened her trunk to examine her options of what to wear that morning. 

"He said he did." Cassie glanced down at her own trunk. Then something occurred to her that hadn't before this minute. "Where are my clothes?"

"What?" Ginny had pulled out a nice-looking wrapped skirt and was examining it critically.

"My clothes. I put them here that first night and last night and I just noticed that they're gone!" Cassie was fairly concerned because she hadn't brought very many outfits and wasn't sure how she would get money to get more if two of them had already disappeared. 

"Well, they've been washed, of course. Aren't they in your trunk?" 

"Washed? Who washed them? When?" She opened her trunk and sure enough, the two school uniforms she had worn so far were folded neatly along with her robes. 

"The elves. They usually wash the clothes every night. Does this look okay together?" She was holding a pretty green sweater up to the skirt and holding them out to Cassie. 

"Yes. But wait - are you telling me that elves come up here, get the clothes, wash them, and dry them for every person in the castle?"

"Basically. Remember when you stayed here last summer? Well don't you remember your clothes were at the end of the bed folded when you woke up the next morning?"

Cassie looked embarrassed. "Well, no. Everything was such a blur."

"I understand. Okay, do you think I'll look strange in a skirt? I mean it's Saturday morning after all - why would I wear a skirt?"

"Because it's not jeans. Wear the skirt, it'll look great. But I still don't understand about the washing."

"Well, it's magic. That's all. Okay, I'll wear these." She started taking off her knitted sweater to slip the more elegant one on. "Oh, I've got to get your nails roaring again before we go down to the bathroom." She waved her wand at Cassie's nails and they both finished dressing quickly. Then they grabbed their wands, their toothbrushes and some makeup and hurried downstairs. They found a couple of open places at the crowded sinks and mirrors and started brushing their teeth. As they were finishing, Elspeth, Rhiannon, and Saffron pushed their way in beside them. Cassie was trying to apply her makeup quickly. Being around all these girls made her really nervous that any minute she would be expected to do something magical. As she pulled out her eye shadow, the other girls all stared at the compact. 

"You have Muggle makeup! My parents don't allow me to have any." Cassie noted a hint of jealousy in Saffron's voice.

Rhiannon looked into Cassie's makeup bag appraisingly. "I get some whenever we visit my mum's relatives. Unfortunately, it's been awhile. Those are some nice brands you have. They're a lot better than the stuff we can get in Hogsmeade or even Diagon Alley."

"Well, you can use whatever you want. I don't mind." Rhiannon smiled gratefully at Cassie as she selected some eye shadow. The other two looked on hopefully and Cassie told them to use what they wanted. As the girls thanked her and reached over to look at her selection of makeup, she noticed Ginny on her other side staring self-consciously into the mirror and looking down at all of the different items. Cassie pushed the foundation toward her and whispered, "Foundation." Ginny smiled appreciatively and began applying it like Cassie had done the morning before. Over the next few minutes, Cassie pushed over eye shadow, blush and lipstick. 

"Do you think it's too much?" Ginny asked a few minutes later as they left the bathroom and headed back to their dorm room to return their toiletries. 

"No. You look great. Really." Cassie knew that Ginny was very self-conscious, sure that she was not as pretty as the rest of her roommates although Cassie thought she looked just as nice as they did. 

They went down into the commons room to meet Hermione, Ron, and Harry. The three of them were sitting on one of the couches across the room from the stairs. Harry and Ron looked slightly agitated but Hermione looked relaxed. As the younger girls entered, all three of them stood up. Ginny walked up to Harry, who looked pleasantly surprised at her appearance. "Boy, what's the occasion? You look great." 

"Just wanted to look nice." Ginny flushed slightly but Cassie smiled encouragingly at her. 

"You succeeded." Harry's hands came up to her hair, tugging gently on the end of her braid. "I love your hair." Ginny and Cassie both laughed. "What? What did I say?" But neither of them answered him so he just shrugged. The five of them exited the portrait hole a minute later. As they walked down the corridor toward the Great Hall, the three teammates were enthusiastically discussing the upcoming match while Cassie and Hermione strolled along listening. All of a sudden, Cassie jumped backwards and gave a small cry of fright as a ghostly image appeared out of the wall just in front of them. Nearly Headless Nick cheerfully greeted the group.

"Ah, Harry, good luck at the Quidditch match today. I know you'll catch the Snitch right away. And you too, Ron. Good luck. And, of course, Ginny. I know you'll do well. We need to uphold the honor of the house. Besides, I made a bet with the Fat Friar that Gryffindor will beat Hufflepuff. So don't let me down."

Ron was barely concealing an evil grin. "And what exactly are you going to use for your bet? Ghosts don't use money, and you can't bet a butterbeer or something like that."

Nicholas stared down at Ron with a dignified glance. "Well, it's the principle of it, isn't it?" He glanced past the front three at Hermione and Cassie. "Hello, Hermione. Ah, and you must be Miss Spencer, the newest student in Gryffindor House. Welcome. I am Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington." 

Cassie had stepped back against the wall and was staring wide-eyed at Nicholas. She made a small squeak and hesitantly waved her hand in greeting. Ron's grin had broadened even wider. "He's also known as Nearly Headless Nick." Cassie gave Ron a sickened look and then glanced back at Nicholas with even more horror.

"I . . . I, don't think I want to know w-why you're called Nearly Headless."

Nicholas glared at Ron in displeasure and mumbled something about how he shouldn't be continuously blamed for having had an incompetent executioner who had not bothered to sharpen his ax. He then again wished the three good luck and disappeared into the wall. Cassie sunk against the opposite wall and stared in shock at where Nicholas had disappeared. 

"Th-that was a ghost."

The other three grinned as Hermione tried to comfort her. "Yes. But don't be scared. Most of the ghosts are really nice. Especially Sir Nicholas."

"You mean there are other ghosts here?"

"Sure, a lot. There's the Fat Friar, the Bloody Baron, and, of course, Moaning Myrtle."

"Moaning Myrtle?"

"Yes. You don't want to use the loo on the first floor. It's really hard to pee while Myrtle's moaning and crying in the toilet next to you."

"Uh, yeah. Okay, I'll, uh, keep that in mind." Cassie straightened up and stood away from the wall. They started walking again, Cassie walking in the middle of the hall, now, and staying very close to Ginny. 

"And don't forget about Peeves," Ginny suddenly added with a grin. Hermione gave a slight roll of her eyes.

"Oh yeah, him. Well, actually he's a poltergeist, not a ghost." Ron had a look of disgust.

"Well, whatever he is, he's definitely a pain in the . . ."

"I heard that, Weasel Weasley. Tut, tut, tut, were you going to say something naughty?" Cassie jumped again as a tiny man with a pointed little face and a cackling voice appeared out of nowhere. "I think Professor McGonagall wouldn't approve."

"Oh, shut up, Peeves." 

Peeves pointedly ignored Ron and instead turned to Cassie with a big smirk on his face. "And you must be the newest Weasley, except your name is Peeeeeeeee-a."

Cassie gave Peeves a scowl and decided she did not like this little ghost, poltergeist or whatever it was. Harry stepped forward. "Bug off, Peeves, or I'll tell the Bloody Baron." Peeves gave a big raspberry and disappeared through a wall. Cassie was very nervous, now. She tried not to be concerned about the fact that ghosts could suddenly appear and disappear, nor did she want to dwell for too long on why that first ghost was called Nearly Headless. Instead, she concentrated on the friendly banter and tried to figure out what she could about the upcoming match. 

They sat down at the Gryffindor table near Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas who both said hello between bites of scrambled eggs and sausages. As Cassie's stomach was not tied in knots this morning, she tackled her breakfast with relish. In a moment or so, she had her plate filled with eggs, bacon, fried tomatoes and wheat toast. Harry, Ginny, and Ron, on the other hand, each settled for a piece of toast and a piece of bacon which they only nibbled. As they were eating, Harry looked up at the ceiling. 

"Good. It's going to be a clear, sunny day."

Cassie did a double take at Harry and then glanced up to see what he was looking at. She choked on her toast when she saw a sunny blue sky with a few cottony white clouds lazily floating through it.

"The last time I looked up it was all dark with twinkling little lights."

Hermione grinned. "The ceiling's charmed to look like the sky outside." 

Cassie shook her head in disbelief. "This place is so amazing," she whispered to Hermione as she again began to eat. She was in the middle of pouring her second cup of hot chocolate when she noticed Dennis Creevey several places down the table looking her over appraisingly. Cassie felt a little self-conscious and could only wonder what Colin must have told him. But she smiled and gave a little wave and he returned it.

As breakfast was ending, a gaggle of Gryffindor students sauntered by wishing Harry and the two Weasleys good luck. All three gave nervous smiles and waved their thanks. Finally, two girls and two boys walked up to Harry and the others and looked on expectantly. He, Ginny, and Ron all said hi. Ginny made the introductions.

"This is our cousin, Pia. Pia, this is the rest of the team. Deana Johnson and Honey Tattershall are both chasers, like me. The guys are Geoffrey Hooper and Kenton Wandweelder. They're our beaters. Deana's older sister, Angelina, was on the team. She was on the team when George and Fred played. They were both beaters."

"Oh," Cassie said, trying hard not blush at Ginny's little wink as she talked about George. She wasn't sure at all what chasers or beaters were. However, she all of a sudden had a new interest in the game and knew she was going to have to pay special attention to the beaters. 

As the large group, now numbering nine, exited the Great Hall, Hermione gave Ron a hug and kiss and whispered something in his ear. Whatever it was Hermione said to him, he must have liked it as his ears turned pink and he gave her a big smile. The Gryffindor team filed out the front door of the castle and Cassie and Hermione watched them cross the lawn before they started up the stairs for the commons room. 

"Whatever you said to Ron must have been pretty good. His ears turned pink."

Hermione flushed a little in response. "Oh, well, I just told him he was a great keeper and that I'd be cheering for him. He likes to know I'm watching." 

"I'll watch, too, but I don't think I'm going to understand what's going on too much."

"That's okay, I still don't understand everything, but it's a lot of fun to watch. After seeing a Quidditch match, you'll never be able to watch cricket again, I'm afraid. It's an incredible game. Very exciting. But I still don't get into Quidditch like the Weasleys do. They all love it." 

"Well, I have a feeling you better start enjoying it more; you're going to be around it for a long time." Hermione blushed and grinned at Cassie. They both laughed as they started up the stairs. 

"Yeah. You're right. I'll probably have to live my entire life in a house decorated in Chudley Cannon orange and believe me, that is not a happy thought." Cassie smiled. That was the first time she had ever gotten a hint that Hermione and Ron's relationship was that serious. She considered mentioning it, but decided against it. It may embarrass the girl and she didn't want to do that. 

"What are the Chudley Cannons?" 

"Oh, that's Ron's favorite professional Quidditch team and their colors are a really hideous orange and black. Remind me to show you the scarf he gave me last year for Christmas. You'll know what I mean. To add insult to injury, they are by far the worst team in their league and probably in the entire country. They almost never win and when they do, it's usually just dumb luck."

"That's Ron's team, then?" Cassie smiled broadly. 

"Yes. What's funny?" 

"I just got a joke that Ginny and Saffron were laughing about this morning. They said that Ron should become a, um, keeper I guess, for his team because they need a good one of those more than he needs to be an Auror, or something like that."

"Well, that's true enough, but I think being an Auror is more important." They climbed for a few more minutes in silence. Then they noticed Remus Lupin coming down the stairs, waved, and went up to him. Cassie looked around to make sure no one was near by. 

"Remus, you don't really expect me to do that essay for your class, do you?"

"That's Professor Lupin to you, and yes, I do want you to write the essay."

Cassie felt her face flushing in embarrassment. "Oh, I'm . . I'm sorry, Professor Lupin."

Remus' face broke into a grin. "It's okay, Pia. You just need to remember where you are. But I really do want you to write the essay. It will help you to understand what the Imperius Curse is like. You need to understand it." He got a contemplative look on his face and continued. "In fact, I'll be very interested to read your perspective of what happened. It won't hurt to put what happened in class down on paper." 

"You wouldn't say that if you'd ever seen me write with a quill, Re -, I mean, Professor Lupin." Hermione laughed but Remus looked a little confused. 

"You can't write with a quill? Why not?" 

"Never mind, Professor. I'll help her." Hermione mouthed "pure blood" at Cassie, who smiled in response. "I told you, Pia. Homework is always helpful. Besides, I'll help you." 

Remus smiled again. "I didn't hear that. I've got to run; I'll see you at the Quidditch match." He continued down the stairs and the two girls looked at each other before breaking into giggles. 

"You were right! They don't even imagine it would be difficult, do they?" 

"Nope. Completely oblivious. Come on, let's hurry. Harry left some stuff for you." 

"Harry did what?" But Hermione just smiled and continued climbing. Once in the commons room, Hermione pulled a book and a box off a shelf and put it on the table. 

"Harry thought these might help you enjoy the game a little bit more. This book explains the history of the game and some basic strategy." Cassie looked down at it. The book was called "Quidditch through the Ages" and it looked like it had been well-used. "Then, these are for when we actually get to the game." Hermione handed Cassie a set of something resembling binoculars. 

"Oh, yes. I remember these from June. That's nice of him." 

"Yeah. Well, I'm going to work on an essay really fast. We should probably head down in about an hour if we want a good seat. Be sure to wear your warm robes. It's going to be really cold out there." 

Cassie settled in front of the fire and started reading. The book was not really too exiting and the warmth from the fire combined with her full stomach made Cassie very tired. She was just drifting off, when Hermione stood up and told her they would have to head down in a few minutes. Cassie stood up, blinking. "I see that you have the same problem I do with Quidditch. Reading about the theory just bores me to tears. It's great to watch, though. You'll have a good time today." Cassie darted up to her room to grab her heavy winter robes as well as the Gryffindor scarf that Arthur had picked up for her in Diagon Alley. She wrapped that quickly around her neck and hurried down the stairs. 

Hermione was visiting with Colin when she got back down and Cassie smiled at him. He stood up quickly. "I was thinking we hadn't really arranged anywhere to meet. Shall we walk over together?" 

"Yeah, that sounds great, Colin. I appreciate it." 

Hermione was smiling at the two of them. "I think I may just stay in and do some more work on that essay." Cassie looked up at her sharply. Hermione had to come. Ron was counting on it. Then she suddenly realized what Hermione was doing. She was trying to allow the two of them to be alone together, thinking that Cassie really was on a date. She would undoubtedly show up later. But that would never do. 

"Oh, no. Come on. Colin knew you would be going with us when we set this up."

"I don't want to be a third wheel or anything." 

Cassie opened her eyes wide and tried to signal to Hermione that she really did not want to be alone with Colin. "No, Hermione, seriously. Besides Ron would be mad at me if I left you back here. Cousins have to support each other, you know."

Colin, who had looked a little hopeful at Hermione's change of plans, now smiled rather faintly. "Yeah, come on, Hermione. It'll be a great game and Ron really would be disappointed if you didn't come." 

Hermione must have picked up on Cassie's silent pleadings, because she suddenly changed her mind. "Okay. You've talked me into it." She grabbed her robes from the chair and bundled herself into them. "I wouldn't want Ron to think I wasn't supportive, after all." 

The three of them descended the long staircases down into the entry hall and then out into the cold afternoon. The bite of the cold surprised Cassie. She had been outside yesterday and had not thought it was this bad. But she almost had to catch her breath at the sudden shaft of cold that reached under her robe and nipped at her fingers. Most of the school's students were traipsing across the lawn, seemingly unmindful of the ice under their feet and Cassie wondered if that was another talent that came along with being a witch or wizard - the ability to ignore frostbite. They were completely down the steps when Hermione heard her name called from behind them. She turned, as did Cassie and Colin. What Cassie saw, up above her, caused her to catch her breath again in complete shock. 

That girl, Luna she thought her name was, was standing on the top of the stairs looking down at them and it looked like she had a live small lion strapped to her head. It was roaring loudly. "Wait up, you three. I'll walk over with you. I think I'll sit in the Gryffindor seats. My own house gets mad at me when I wear the hat." 

"Sure, Luna. That would be great. We always appreciate the support." Hermione winked at Cassie, who bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud. Their walk over to the stadium was a quiet one, due mostly to the fact that the girl's lion hat - which Cassie now realized was actually just a big lion head obviously charmed to roar - made too much noise to allow the rest of them to speak. 

Had Cassie been alone when they reached the "pitch," she would have stopped and stared in amazement at what she saw, but as she was with two people who would find it impossible to believe a witch, whether pure-blood or Muggle-born, would have never seen a Quidditch stadium, she just looked around trying to display only a mild curiosity. The stands were extremely high, due, Cassie imagined, to the fact the game was played in the air. At each end were three poles with big circles on top. The students were milling around happily, calling out to each other and chanting various things she could hear on the wind. Most of the Gryffindors were happily singing some sort of ditty that seemed to amuse them. Cassie couldn't hear all the words, but she could have sworn the chorus was "Weasley is our King." She hoped she remembered to ask about this later as she couldn't tell whether it was complimentary or not. There were banners all around the stadium, some pro-Gryffindor, some supporting the Hufflepuff team. These were very impressive, as they all moved and flashed in different colors. They sat down on the metal bench and Cassie hoped that she didn't just freeze solid to it before the game was over. She had never been in such cold before, and the thought of being out here for what could be hours was truthfully a little scary. 

Colin was sitting next to her on the right and Hermione sat down on her left, looking around briefly to see who else had come down to the match. Cassie did her own fair share of looking around, trying to be sly, hoping that none of her roommates had yet arrived. She didn't see them and hoped they were big Quidditch fans and would brave this weather to see the game. "Sit down, sit down." Hermione spoke to Luna who was still standing, looking over the stands for someone. "I want to cast a warming spell on all of us. Pia isn't used to the cold here and I think she's turning blue." Cassie was glad to hear this as her hands already hurt and they still had about 20 minutes before the game actually was supposed to start. A moment later, she felt a lot warmer, not exactly hot, but warm enough that she would probably survive the experience. 

Then, just when she was starting to get discouraged that her plan would actually not work, she saw Elspeth, Saffron, and Rhiannon climb up into the stands. She stood and waved at the three of them. Elspeth looked over at her and Colin and Cassie could see her stiffen. Cassie motioned them over. "Come sit by us. The nails work better if they're in a group." Of course, she thought to herself, the quiet roaring of their lion nails was going to be completely drowned out by the still very loud noises coming from Luna's head, but it was a good theory. 

"No thanks, we've got friends in another house who are waiting for us." Rhiannon and Saffron moved off, although Elspeth still stood there, looking at Cassie with a hurt expression. 

"Come on, Elspeth. There's room by Colin if I scoot down a little bit." Hermione looked a little disconcerted when Cassie said this but dutifully scooted over a little toward Luna so that Cassie could move. Colin smiled at Elspeth, as well. 

"Yeah, come on. Hermione's cast a great warming spell." The girl's eyes got wide and she sat down a moment later by Colin. Cassie looked behind Colin's back and Elspeth leaned back and caught her eye. Cassie winked at her, smiled, and turned back toward the pitch.

The three of them talked for a few minutes about their Defense class and Cassie mentioned that she hadn't started her essay yet. "Neither have I," Colin admitted. "I spent yesterday afternoon developing some pictures to send home. I had to make them stills as my mum likes to show them to her friends once in a while. That always takes longer." 

Cassie thought she knew what he meant, but Elspeth got a rather confused look on her face. "What do you mean?" 

"My parents are Muggles, Elspeth. You know that." 

"Well, I know, but what do you mean by stills?" 

"The pictures don't move." Elsepth's expression at that moment almost made Cassie laugh out loud. It had to be very similar to hers the first time she saw a picture that actually did move. It was complete shock. 

"You mean you can take pictures that don't move? What do they do?"

"They're just frozen. A little moment in time - it's actually quite wonderful. I think it's more of a challenge to make a good picture when you only have an eighth of a second to capture the image forever." 

"You take pictures of people that way?" She still looked slightly off balance. 

"Yes. You mean you've never seen Muggle pictures?"

"I don't think so."

Cassie decided this was the opening she had been waiting for, even if it had come sooner than she had anticipated. "Colin, I think seeing your photographs, especially the stills, would be fascinating. Do you have an album or something we could look at?"

"Uh, well . . . yeah, but I don't know if you would find it interesting." 

"I'm sure both of us would love to see it. Wouldn't you, Elspeth?" 

"Yes. That would be really neat. The pictures really don't move?" Cassie thought she would have said that a collection of candy wrappers was interesting if it was Colin who was showing it to her, but she restrained herself from saying this. She had been hoping there would be an opening where she could somehow arrange for the three of them to get together in a more intimate setting. It was obvious that Elspeth had a huge crush on Colin and Cassie was determined that she would do everything she could to get the two of them together. They were cute together. Colin just hadn't noticed that yet. 

"They really don't move. I have to develop them differently, but it's worth it." 

"How about tomorrow, then?" Cassie forged ahead, pressing the issue. She just didn't have the luxury of a slow set-up. She didn't know how long she would be here. 

"Uh, sure. Tomorrow afternoon would be good. I've got a study group in the morning." Cassie smiled.

"Great. We'll plan on it." 

A moment later, when Elspeth was occupied speaking to someone sitting next to her on the other side, Colin leaned a little bit toward Cassie. "I guess I better take those pictures of you out that I took in June, huh? She doesn't know about the hair and stuff, right?" 

"What!" Cassie whispered. "I thought you destroyed all those?"

"Well, I meant to, but I just . . . couldn't bring myself to do it. That's why I recognized you so easily when I saw you yesterday. I've been looking at your pictures for months, waving and smiling, and definitely blond." 

"Yeah. Definitely take them out. And you should probably destroy them." Colin looked a little crestfallen. "I mean it, Colin. This is a matter of life and death." 

"All right. I'll take them out. I don't know if I can destroy them or not, though. Truthfully, I like looking at them too much." Cassie wanted to press the issue but Elspeth had turned back to them.

"I think the match is about to start. Madam Hooch just came out." Sure enough, Cassie looked down on the field to see a gray-haired witch carrying a big box which she set in the middle of the pitch. Suddenly from an area underneath the stands 14 people walked out, 7 of them dressed in the familiar scarlet robes Cassie had seen before and 7 of them in bright yellow. She put her omnioculars up to her eyes and looked down. She easily picked out Harry, Ginny, and Ron from the other four. They looked slightly nervous and also very cold. She sincerely hoped they could use warming spells on themselves. 

"All right, Hogwarts! Put your hands together for two very good teams. Today's should be a great match!" The announcer's voice was loud although when she looked around, Cassie could not see a speaker. Everybody clapped and whistled and the Gryffindor stands broke into song again, which made Hermione laugh. Suddenly, there was a whistle, 15 brooms rose into the air, and Cassie prepared to see one of the most amazing things she could possibly imagine. 


	16. The Greatest Game in the World

Chapter 16

"The Greatest Game in the World"

Cassie had seen Harry fly on his broomstick before. In fact, she had been on that very same broomstick before and done some (she thought at the time) pretty tricky maneuvers with him. She had seen him fight, dodging curses that moved like bullets and spinning through the air to take aim at Voldemort. She thought she knew what to expect. But nothing had prepared her for watching Quidditch. 

Hermione had told her she would never be able to watch cricket again after today. Cassie had laughed to herself because she personally hated cricket. But she did love to watch soccer. She immediately knew she was ruined forever for any other sport. The absolute thrilling speed and breakneck maneuvers she was watching in front of her eyes at this moment made everything else pale in comparison. It reminded her to some degree of a horse race - the riders became almost one with their brooms and it was sometimes hard to tell where one stopped and the other began. The players were weaving, dodging, advancing, spinning, freed from the bonds of gravity and exploring that freedom with every particle of their being. Cassie lowered the omnioculars and stared in complete and utter awe and amazement at the scene in front of her, caring not at all about the score or even which team was winning. All she cared about was watching them fly! 

The colors were bright, almost cartoonish, and she wondered if she was imagining the entire thing. The bright green of the field, the deep blue of the sky, the red and yellow of the opposing teams all contrasted with each other, moving together and apart in a dance whose steps were more complex than she could hope to understand! Nowhere in real life could the colors be so bright and their saturations so intense. She almost pinched herself to see if she was asleep and dreaming. Certainly no one could really fly like that and ever want to come back to earth. How did they stand it? How did they finish the game and come back to solid ground? She thought that she would never look at Harry the same way again. He wasn't a boy who happened to be able to fly. He was a bird who was forced to walk around on two feet most of the time. She thought of the time he had been in London the previous summer and felt physically sick. How could he have stood giving this up? 

She was so intensely involved in watching the soaring, zooming little birds in front of her that it took Hermione three times elbowing her before Cassie even noticed. She started. Then she remembered. There were other people around her and it wasn't a dream. "What?" She looked at Hermione who was giving her a wide-eyed expression. 

"You're sitting with your mouth hanging open. People may wonder if it looks like you've never seen Quidditch before." Her whisper, although kind, was fairly desperate and Cassie wondered just how stunned she had actually looked. She shook her head to clear it. She needed to pay attention to what she was doing and where she was. There was too much at stake to allow herself to relax. For a moment she felt cheated. 

"Sorry. I just - I just . . . I never. . ." But she didn't finish her sentence because right then she became aware of exactly what was going on over the field and she realized that for all the beauty and grace of the flying, the game was wizard sport after all and they weren't out there doing ballet. They were fighting! And fighting hard. The fact they were 50 feet in the air didn't seem to matter in the least. There were three balls she could see and apparently it was the red one that mattered because that was the one everyone was fighting over. A yellow player had it at the moment and he was speeding toward the goals on the left side of the field. And then Cassie figured out what exactly Ron did. She could see his red hair from her seat so she knew it was him. He was on his broom trying to keep the yellow player from throwing the ball through any of the rings. That seemed a near impossible task but as she watched, he managed. He caught the red ball easily and threw it to one of the girls on his team, Cassie couldn't tell who. Just then, the purpose of the black balls became painfully obvious. One of them came hurtling at a high rate of speed toward the girl holding the ball and she had to do a quick spin in the air to avoid getting smacked by it. Right behind it came one of the yellow team holding a short bat and he hit the black ball again toward the girl who was racing like the hounds of hell were chasing her toward the other end of the pitch. She tossed the ball to Ginny who was closer to the goals just before the black ball hit her broom and sent her spinning off course. Ginny sped closer to the goals and threw the red ball in as hard as she could. It slipped through the fingers of the yellow Ron-equivalent (Keeper wasn't it?) and went through the ring. Everyone around her yelled and clapped and looking around she noticed a large scoreboard that just added 10 points to the Gryffindor total. Cassie decided she must have been really out of it for a while because the score was 40 to 0. She didn't remember hearing anyone yell earlier. 

She grabbed her omnioculars again and pointed them towards Ron's end of the field. She saw him through the lenses, looking tense but pleased. Another yellow player was racing toward him and Cassie tried to track him but couldn't, he was just moving too fast. She heard the announcer then, and realized that listening would probably really help her understand what was going on. "That's Gillingwater again with the Quaffle. Weasley is getting ready to block him. This will be Hufflepuff's sixth attempt to score. Weasley replaced Oliver Wood as Keeper three years ago and has been invaluable to the - alright, then, folks. You see why the Hufflepuffs are scoreless up to this point. And he throws the ball to his sister . . ." Ron had once again stopped the red ball and had thrown it gracefully over to Ginny who was hovering close to him. She grabbed it and raced off once more. Cassie concentrated for a minute on her face. She had had no idea how intense this game was until she saw Ginny's expression. Her eyes were squinted against the wind and she concentrated hard on dodging other players who seemed to be purposefully blocking her path. The black balls were screaming by Ginny's head but she paid them no attention, just avoiding them like she had an almost supernatural knowledge of where they were going to be. She threw the ball again but this time the yellow Keeper caught it and Ginny scowled before heading back to the middle of the field. 

Another red figure flew into Cassie's line of vision. She did not know this boy but he was obviously a Beater. He hit one of the black balls hard toward the Hufflepuff goal and two yellow players, including the girl presently holding the red ball (Quaffle?), moved out of its way. She watched the Beater for a few minutes, enjoying the way he kept track of players as well as the red ball and the two black ones. His movements were efficient but powerful. The strength with which he hit the ball amazed her but she could see the power in his face as he swung and connected time and again with one or the other of his targets. This is what George and Fred did when they played? She hoped one day she could see them fly. She wondered if they were as serious about the game as their siblings were. She turned her face toward Ron again as the yellow girl (the announcer said her name was Woodview) approached the goals yet again, hoping this time she could get the Quaffle past the Gryffindor keeper. What happened next probably took no more than three seconds but as she watched it, it was almost like it was in slow motion. Ron had leaned off his broom a little bit to reach for the ball and both arms were extended so he could grab it. He was holding onto the broom with his knees and was concentrating very hard on watching the ball, determined to block it. So, when the black ball came hurtling toward him, hit by one of the yellow Beaters, he didn't even see it. He was not even aware of it until it slammed into his right arm, knocking him backward and right off the end of his broom. Cassie could see the look of shock on his face as he lost his tenuous grip on the broomstick and fell into space. 

It was then Cassie realized something she had not before that split second. This game was dangerous! The players may look like dancing birds as they flew above the field, but in reality, gravity worked on them like on any other solid object and once the broom failed to keep them in the air, there was no question of what was going to happen. She looked away, not wanting to watch. It was a very long way to the ground. 

Hermione bit back a scream as Ron hit the grass and she jumped up, apparently thinking she would run down to him. She had even started down the steps, practically flying herself, but to Cassie's amazement, Ron stood up. She grabbed her glasses again and focused on his face. He was very white but he put his left hand for his broom, which flew to him. She lowered the glasses because people were standing in front of Ron now and she couldn't see him anymore. Hermione had returned to her seat, standing on it, staring through her own omnioculars, trying to see what was going on, and muttering to herself. 

The announcer was talking and Cassie listened, hoping she would know more than the rest of them. "Weasley looks shaken but he's standing up. Pomfrey is trying to get him to put the broom down but he's shaking his head. He's getting back on the broom. You've got to admit, he's got guts. It looks like he's going to keep playing. That's probably good as Deana Johnson who plays back-up Keeper is not really up to this intensity of play." The Gryffindors had started singing again and Cassie was amused when Colin started singing next to her ear. He didn't have a very good voice, bless his heart -- as she had heard in Defense class -- but he sang with enthusiasm. 

Weasley is our King

Weasley is our King

He didn't let the Quaffle in,

Weasley is our King

Weasley can save anything,

He never leaves a single ring.

That's why Gryffindors all sing:

Weasley is our King. 

Cassie laughed as the song ended a few moments later. It was a cute song, clever, and definitely hummable. Next time they sang it, she would try to join in on the chorus and maybe she could just hum loudly through the verses. Maybe that would keep Colin on key anyway which couldn't hurt. 

The motion on the pitch had lost some momentum as Ron had fallen. For one thing, apparently whoever had hit that black ball (called a Bludger she figured out) toward Ron had done something wrong and Gryffindor was going to get a penalty shot. She almost found it laughable someone could commit a foul in this game. It was insanely chaotic and trying to figure out who was doing what seemed impossible. The Hufflepuffs lined up behind the Gryffindor team. Ginny had seemingly been chosen to take the shot as she had the Quaffle in her hands and was ahead of all the other players. The yellow Keeper (whose name Cassie could have sworn was Dagger) was concentrating hard on blocking Ginny's shot. He didn't succeed. 

The score was then 50 to 0 which Cassie thought was a pretty sizeable lead. It dawned on her as play resumed at the same breakneck intensity as before the fall that she hadn't seen Harry. She wanted to ask Hermione what he did for the team but didn't dare as Colin was sitting right there and would certainly think it strange if she wasn't familiar enough with the game to know what Harry's position was. So, she decided she had just better find him. Maybe once she saw what he was doing, she would understand why he wasn't with all the other players. She put her glasses down and just looked around the field. He was easy to spot once she looked for him. But she could not figure out what he was doing. He was above everyone else by about 20 feet which explained why she had not seen him when she was busy concentrating on the action. But he was not looking at the red ball, the black balls, or any of the team members in particular. In fact, she would have sworn he was looking away from the action on the field. She thought for a few moments that maybe he was some type of referee or coach or something as he seemed to have that quality of aloofness toward the various players on the field. She discarded that thought, though, when she saw a yellow player, most likely a girl judging by its size, who was doing the same thing as he was. They seemed to be flying with each other, but not really. He kept glancing at her and then looked around the field again, flying right by her side. She tried to get away from him a couple of times but he would fly closer to her and she would slow down. 

Cassie tried listening to the commentator but couldn't glean anything about Harry's activities from her. It was almost like Harry and this unknown girl were playing their own game that had nothing to do with the one everyone else was playing. As she looked back down at the other players, though, she realized something was going terribly wrong. As she watched, a yellow player who was announced as Ethan Bloodgood, intercepted a pass meant to go to Deana Johnson from the girl named Honey and sped off toward Ron's end of the pitch. However, instead of Ron easily catching it and sending it back toward the Gryffindors, he made an attempt to get it, wobbled on his broom, and let it slip through his fingers. Cassie then realized what must have happened earlier. The Bludger slamming into Ron's right arm had apparently hurt it enough that it was almost useless at catching the red balls that kept coming his way. As she watched for the next few minutes, the Hufflepuffs were quickly able to put three more scores on the board which tied them up at 50 each. 

The announcer, who had previously been ignoring Harry and the girl completely, suddenly seemed to have developed an intense fascination with every one of their moves. "Well, it's obvious this game is up to the Seekers. And the sooner the Snitch is caught, the better for the Gryffindors, assuming of course that Potter is able to perform flawlessly as usual. Weasley is playing injured and it really shows. Potter has not, as far as I have seen, spotted the snitch yet in this game and I am sure he is feeling desperate now. Ashtoreth Zyz wants to prove her skill against him and is hoping her small size will be beneficial when it comes to the final race for the elusive prize. Zyz has played for Hufflepuff now for three years in a row, having replaced Diggory after . . ."

"Jordan!" The voice was brisk and sudden, causing Cassie to practically fall off her seat.

"Sorry, Professor. Didn't mean to bring it up." 

"All right. Get back to the game." The tone was a little softer now. Both Hermione and Colin had stiffened almost imperceptibly at the name Diggory and Cassie was very curious to know the story behind it but didn't ask. She swung her glasses up to Harry again and was very surprised at the look on his face. He may not have looked like he was paying attention to any part of the game, but it was obvious he had heard, at least, the last set of comments from the announcer and it had shaken him up. He looked, well . . . she wasn't exactly sure how to interpret the expression on his face. It scared her, really. 

"Zyz is a good Seeker and will certainly give Potter a run for the Snitch today. They've played against each other only one time before, but it . . . Aaah, it's been seen! I think Potter saw it first!"

"He didn't see it." Hermione made this announcement suddenly. "I can always tell when he's really seen it. He's just trying to do one of the Wonky-faint things and throw Zyz off his tail. Make her crash or something . . . Like it was her fault about Cedric. Maybe she'll figure it . . .Nope." 

"It's Wronski feint, Hermione. Wronski." Colin sounded a little exasperated at her. But Cassie honestly could not have cared less at that moment what the thing Harry was doing was called. She just wanted to call out in shock. He was diving straight at the ground, going faster and faster, until the last moment, when he pulled the handle of his broom straight up and curved gracefully skyward again. The girl, apparently, had not figured out whatever it was Harry had done because her broom crashed hard into the ground and she fell off in an undignified heap of yellow. Cassie focused the omnioculars hard on her but she stood up, looking disgusted that she had fallen for his trick. She hopped back on her broom and a few moments later was up in the air again, watching Harry, but with a definitely warier look in her eye. 

"Only a Firebolt has the ability to make those split second turns which is why Potter can . . ."

"Jordan! I've warned you before."

"Just explaining some of the finer points of the game to the students, Professor! That's my job." 

"Stick to commenting on the players, not their brooms, then." 

"Yes, Professor." 

Through all the drama of the dive and the commentary surrounding Harry's broom, the game with the Quaffle and Bludgers had continued unabated and Cassie again wondered how the referee, apparently just the one gray-haired witch who had flown up with them originally, could possibly keep track of who was doing what to whom. 

The Gryffindor Chasers were very good and the Hufflepuff Keeper was only decent. The Gryffindors had apparently managed to put another 6 goals through the hoops as the score was currently 110. Unfortunately, Ron's injury had rendered his right arm almost useless and the Chasers for Hufflepuff were taking advantage of this and shooting all their goals toward him from that side. They had gotten 8 goals past him and now had a score of 130. Hermione was agonizing every time the Quaffle even came close to Ron which meant Cassie was hearing a lot of moaning and muttering and Hermione was not explaining anything to her, even when Colin was occupied talking to Elspeth as he had been periodically over the last few minutes. 

"I think all the Gryffindors are grateful Potter is their Seeker today" the announcer was saying. "He's got a near perfect record and it's obvious at least to this announcer that he'd better get the Snitch soon or the Gryffindor defense may collapse completely and make the points irrelevant." Cassie didn't know what the girl meant, but Hermione was certainly muttering that she hoped "Harry catches that bloody Snitch soon or I'm going to go down there and insist he come out. He should have gone to hospital. It's not worth it for one bloody game. But would he have listened to me, anyway? No. No. Of course not. What do I know?" By "he" Cassie assumed Hermione meant Ron, whose face was getting whiter and whiter as the game progressed. 

The Gryfffindor Beaters were trying to help out now on defense and were concentrating hard on hitting Bludgers directly at opposing team members who were carrying the Quaffle, trying to keep them away from their wounded Keeper. This was only moderately successful, however, and though Ron was able to deflect at least three goal attempts, he let one more through, and the tension in the air around Cassie was almost palpable. She chanced a glance through the omnioculars at Ginny. She hadn't had the Quaffle in a while and Cassie only realized at that moment why. She was hurt, also, not nearly as bad as Ron but enough that she was trying to rest. Her nose was bloody and it looked like she had what was sure to be a beautiful black eye by the next morning. As Cassie watched, Ginny shook her head and yelled something at Honey. A moment later, she had the Quaffle in her hands again and was speeding toward the far ring and the Hufflepuff Keeper. She did a pretty fancy little spin in the air as a Bludger passed not five feet from her face and then she made a quick move to the right and as the Keeper followed to block her throw, she moved quickly left and threw the Quaffle through the nearest ring to where the Gryffindors were sitting. The stands around her erupted in applause. 

"That's the first score in over five minutes by the Gryffindors who are still 20 points behind. They're exhausted and wounded. Potter has really got to find that elusive Snitch. He's seen it a few times. I've even seen it once, folks. But he hasn't been able to get to it fast enough. Hopefully this game will end soon." 

"Jordan. We all know where your loyalties lie, but could you at least try to comment on the Hufflepuff team once in a while, please?" 

"Sure, Professor. The Hufflepuffs strategy, I think, speaks for itself. And, much as I hate to admit it, it's working. . . ." The girl stopped speaking suddenly and it was as though a thunderclap had shaken the stadium. Everyone started staring at one place above the field, close to where Ginny had thrown her last goal. Cassie stared hard at the spot through her omnioculars, trying desperately to see what this Snitch was exactly. No one had told her. Maybe it was an invisible ball or something. She certainly had never seen anything that looked remotely like something Harry would be interested in catching. 

And then, so faint she almost missed it, there was a flutter and a flash of gold and Harry and the girl who had been his companion for nearly an hour and a half now were gone! They were both speeding full out toward the flash of light. The girl was fast, but Cassie had to say she had never seen anything that day faster than Harry. He was practically laying on his broom, his arm outstretched, every line of his body focused on one thing and one thing only - getting there before she did. He still had to maneuver around players, Bludgers, Beaters, and one Keeper, who looked up to see a veritable cannonball hurtling at him and quickly decided to move to safer territory. Three times the Hufflepuff Beaters sent the vicious black balls toward him but he dodged them as though they were puffs of dandelion fluff and then he was there and then his hand was open and closed and then raised over his head! And the stands erupted around her into a cacophony of sound so loud she almost put her hands over her ears. 

He had, apparently, just won the game! 

Everyone around her was standing on their seats, banging their feet against the metal benches as the final score was posted. 270 to 140. Gryffindor Wins! Some red and gold fireworks went off from somewhere below their seats and Cassie smiled as she recognized George's handiwork. Someone had stocked up ahead of time. 

"Oh, thank heavens!" Hermione was saying. "I've got to get down there. He's so stubborn he'll probably refuse to go to hospital again! Wait till I give him a piece of my mind!" And she was off. Cassie followed her quickly, motioning Colin and Elspeth to follow her down the steps Hermione had just started down. Colin waved back, indicating she should go on without them and despite Cassie's worry about Ron and Ginny, she smiled to herself as she shoved her way through the throng of excited Gryffindors who were all trying to get down to the field. Apparently her plan had worked very well. But there would be time for savoring that particular victory later. Her foot was stepped on several times before she managed to make it through the crowd and onto the green grass. It was only at that moment that she realized how effective Hermione's warming spell had been. The air down on the field was absolutely frigid and every time she took a breath it cut into her lungs like a knife. She was grateful she hadn't had to sit through the entire game in these temperatures. She surely would have died. 

She followed Hermione as quickly as she could, which wasn't very, but she didn't worry because she knew where she was going. There was a small medical tent set up on the far side of the field and both Ron and Ginny as well as several other players had congregated there. The same witch Cassie had helped out in June during the battle was busily bustling around, ascertaining injuries, putting pastes on wounds, and waving her wand around. Ron was nowhere in sight by the time the two girls arrived at the tent and Cassie figured he was probably inside. He had been the most seriously injured of any of the players and it made sense that he would need privacy as he would probably have to remove his shirt. She sincerely hoped that somehow magic would warm the place up. If not, he would be an icicle before they could get him back to the castle. Hermione was pestering the nurse as Cassie approached and she hung back a little so that the nurse wouldn't recognize her. She didn't expect her to. It had been a long time and she was very busy - both then and now. Apparently, the nurse was telling Hermione that she was not allowed to go in and see Ron. "He's fine, Miss Granger. But he's undressed and I have yet to examine him completely." 

"Then how do you know he's fine? Besides, I've seen him undressed before and I . . ."

"Miss Granger!" The nurse pulled herself up to her full height. "I do not want to hear any details of your sordid liaisons with my patient. It is of no matter to me." Hermione looked confused and then suddenly realized what she had said. 

"Oh! That's not what I meant . . . I mean, I . . ." But the witch had turned away, dealing with another patient and Hermione stalked back over to where Cassie was standing. Her face was bright red and she looked both annoyed and embarrassed. "That didn't go the way it was supposed to." 

Cassie raised her eyebrow at her. "Yeah, I guess not. That's probably not exactly what you wanted to say to the nurse, huh?" 

"No. I just meant his shirt. I'm sure it's just his shirt that's off, but I've seen him without his shirt several times. Oh, I don't even want to think of what Madame Pomfrey is going to think of me after that stupid comment. She's going to think I'm a scarlet woman as Ron calls them." She forced a grin, but was still blushing at her embarrassment. Cassie grinned at Hermione while she stomped around, beating her hands against her shoulders, apparently trying to stay warm. Cassie could empathize with that. She was half frozen already. 

"Can you cast another one of those lovely little warming charms?" 

"No. Sorry. They only work if you stay in one place. Kind of like a heat lamp." 

"Oh. All right." Harry waved at them as he approached Ginny who was looking thoroughly miserable sitting in one of the chairs waiting attention by the nurse. Cassie watched as he squatted down by her chair and spoke quietly to her. Ginny smiled and then winced. Her face looked pretty bad. Cassie hadn't seen her get hurt but she could imagine that it was one of those Bludgers that had hit her. Either that or another player's elbow. Cassie looked around at the students milling on the field. The Gryffindors were looking very excited and pleased. The Hufflepuffs just looked cold. 

A few students were huddled together singing the little ditty that Cassie had now heard several times. Hermione laughed again as the song was carried to her on the wind. 

"Why do you always laugh when you hear someone singing that song? Don't you like it?" Hermione chuckled for a minute longer, laughing even more now that Cassie had pointed it out to her. As Cassie waited for Hermione to compose herself enough to answer her question, she looked around and saw a very unwelcome sight. Draco Malfoy was crossing the field, coming almost directly at them although he wasn't really looking in her direction so she relaxed a little bit. The brief conversation the two of them had had last night at dinner had unnerved her greatly. 

She tried not to look too directly at him as he might interpret her stare as an invitation when it actually was more like keeping an eye on a poisonous snake to make sure it wasn't about to strike. Finally, Hermione had gotten control of herself and was starting to tell the story. 

"It's absolutely hilarious, actually. It all started in our fifth year when Ron took over as Keeper to replace Oliver Wood. He was pretty good as long as no one was looking at him. Under the eyes of every student at Hogwarts, though, he had real problems. Don't tell him I said that, please. Anyway, the Slytherins, Malfoy in particular, wrote a nasty little song to really get his goat." She laughed again. Malfoy had heard his name being used in vain obviously and had stopped about five feet behind Hermione, watching her with a sneer on his face. Cassie tried to wave to Hermione to stop telling the story, but Hermione either didn't notice or didn't sense the desperation behind the movement. "The words were all mean. But when Ron won the Quidditch cup for the Gryffindors in the last game that year, someone - and I don't know who it was, actually now that I think about it - changed the words to be nice to Ron instead. It's kind of hung on ever since. It just cracks me up, because every time we sing it, Malfoy gets a very pained look on his face . . . . and I can imagine him sitting with his little cronies and just grinding his teeth together." Cassie's eyes were slightly wide as she stared at Malfoy who now was stalking toward the two of them and Cassie wished that she could pull out her own wand and threaten him. He looked murderous.

"I don't grind my teeth, Mudblood." Hermione jumped about a mile as Draco stopped right beside her. "I just think again how absolutely pitiful your little boyfriend was that year . . . in everything . . . including the Quidditch." Hermione's brows knit together and Cassie thought that it was probably fortunate they were near the medical tent. One of them was bound to be hurt in the next few minutes. 

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" Draco's eyes flicked toward Cassie and then back to Hermione and Cassie wanted to crawl away and wash or something. He had followed her and now there was going to be a fight. Hermione grabbed for her wand and Cassie, thinking that as a threat it might work, grabbed hers, hoping she looked like she really knew what she was doing. Draco pulled his out as well. 

"I have as much of a right to be here as you do, Mudblood, maybe more." Several people were starting to gather around now and there were murmurs as the word Mudblood was spit out. 

"You don't want to be hexed, Malfoy. You've had that experience before and I'm fairly sure you don't want to repeat it." To Cassie's absolute shock, Draco took a step backward. His eyes flicked toward her again and she forced herself to stay put. 

"I watched Spencer sit with you and Creevey all through the match - two Mudbloods! And I wanted to ask her a question." He then turned and looked directly at Cassie. "What's it like to hang out with trash all the time, Spencer?" Cassie took a deep breath and put every bit of hatred she had for this boy into her voice. 

"Your friends would know better than I. Why don't you ask them?" Draco's eyes flared a bit in surprise and then he actually grinned. 

"Good one, Spencer. Good one." And he turned on his heel and left the field, heading for the castle. 


	17. House Elves and a Howler

Chapter 17

House-elves and a Howler

About 45 minutes later, the five friends hurried as fast as they could up the steps of the castle into the entrance hall and stood there for a few minutes letting the relative warmth of the room soak into their bones. Ron was still looking a little pale but in general he seemed to have recovered from his wounds. Ginny's eye still looked puffy and dark but the shower she had taken in the changing rooms had washed all the blood from her nose off her face. Harry, who was the only one of the Quidditch players to emerge from the match completely unscathed, still had a frustrated look on his face. He had asked both Cassie and Hermione repeatedly what Malfoy had said to them but they both had just said he had called Hermione a Mudblood and insulted Ron. He didn't believe them, that was obvious, but he had stopped asking. 

Cassie had told Hermione that she didn't want Harry to say anything to Malfoy about the earlier comment and his rather twisted flirtation. "For one thing, it would be strange. He isn't supposed to be more than a casual friend and Draco might get suspicious if Harry is acting all protective. But if Ron confronts him, Ron is likely to get himself into trouble. He's not exactly what you call level-headed around Draco, is he?" Hermione had to admit that everything Cassie had said was true. They also had decided, while they were sitting in the small anteroom off the girls' Quidditch changing rooms waiting for Ginny to emerge, that Cassie had handled the situation well enough and there was no point reminding Draco of the entire incident by having either Hermione or Ginny confront him. 

"Just stay away from him, though, Pia. He's scaring me a little bit." The girls' changing rooms, unlike the boys', were a common room - shared by all the girls on all the teams, as there were usually very few of them. "And," Hermione had muttered to Cassie when she had questioned the logic of this, "let's face it, girls are less likely to start wrestling over something that happened on the field than the boys are." 

"Well, he doesn't scare me, exactly. It is making me a little nervous that he keeps staring at me. Do you think he really knows who I am? Maybe he remembers me from the last time . . . ." One of the girls (the Seeker, Cassie thought) from the Hufflepuff team had emerged from the changing rooms at that point and they had talked to her for a few minutes, congratulating her on a good game. She was a nice girl and didn't seem too frustrated about what had happened during the game. She recognized that Harry was one of the best Seekers Hogwarts had seen in years and that she had been very unlikely to beat him in a head-to-head confrontation. But she had been pleased at how the rest of the team played and that their score was decent. Cassie bit her tongue when she was tempted to remind the girl that this was only because Ron was injured and the Chasers on her team had taken full advantage of that little fact. 

Cassie was unsure as they all stood in the entrance hall what they were going to do now for the rest of the afternoon. She still needed to mail her letter to her parents but she didn't think that would take very long. She thought perhaps they could do homework but that really held no appeal. However, she didn't have to wonder for very long. "Ron, why don't you take Hermione up to the Commons Room? Ginny and I will go visit the kitchens. And Pia, you probably want to come with us. It's interesting." Hermione scowled at this and Ron got a very amused grin on his wan face. 

"Good idea. Hurry. I'm sure they'll all be waiting. I think the rest of the team is already back." Hermione scowled even more deeply at both Harry and Ginny who had plastered very angelic looking smiles on their faces, looking like butter wouldn't melt in their mouths. 

She and Ron started climbing up the stairs and Cassie heard Hermione talking to Ron in a very angry voice. "What's going on? Why can't they come with us to the kitchen?"

"Well, Ron could if he wanted, but he looked like he might fall over so I figured he should probably keep track of Hermione." Harry and Ginny both still had very strange looks on their faces and Cassie knit her brows together. After a minute or two, they both started laughing and Ginny had to lean back against one of the walls, holding herself by the stomach as she tried to catch her breath. 

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" She tried not to be angry but it was strange having people laugh at private jokes all around her. Most of the time she couldn't really ask but they were alone in the corridor and she figured she was safe. 

"It's Hermione. She gets so mad when we have to come down here." 

"Why?" 

"Well, it's kind of a long story." Harry was still chuckling but they were walking down a set of steps now with Ginny close behind. "The elves have told her in no uncertain terms that she is not allowed. And it makes her very mad." 

"The elves? We're going to see the house-elves?"

"Yeah. That's why I thought you'd like it." They stopped in front of a gigantic painting of a bowl of fruit and Cassie had the fleeting thought that at least this portrait wouldn't talk to her. Then, Harry reached out and started rubbing his finger over the pear that was in the middle of the painting and Cassie could have sworn she heard giggling. She looked around to see who was giggling at them but when she looked back, where the pear had been was a bright green door handle . Harry pulled on the door handle and the painting swung away from the wall. A second later all three of them were standing inside a cavernous kitchen and Cassie was staring with complete amazement at the little creatures bustling about.

She wasn't sure what to expect in an elf. The only reference she could even think of to elves were the ones supposedly working at the North Pole to make Christmas toys. And any picture she had had in her mind when she was a child was nothing close to what she saw now. Well, okay. She had to take that back. They were short. And their ears were pointy. But they weren't cute. And they weren't wearing pointed shoes. 

They weren't exactly ugly. It was hard for her to think of exactly what words she would use to describe them. Their heads were very large and bald and their eyes were absolutely huge in their small pointed faces. Their ears looked like overlarge bat ears or like Spock's on Star Trek. Their arms and legs were very skinny with hands and feet that looked like they had been transplanted from a bigger creature. Most of them were dressed in what Cassie could have sworn were pillowcases. 

Just as she was trying to take it all in, one little bundle of energy approached them. Cassie had to bite her lip hard to avoid bursting into frantic laughter. The elf was wearing the strangest collection of things she had ever seen. She could not even begin to tell exactly what the various articles of clothing were. She did, however, identify two or three knit caps on his head and what she could have sworn was a tea cozy on top of them all. The thing that was the most obvious though were about 30 different socks and none of them looked like they matched. He had several different ones on each foot and then also had others that seemed to be pinned to his outfit. He was not wearing the pillowcase that the others had on but seemed to be wearing some shorts that were big enough to cover his entire body and what looked to be a very small maroon knit sweater. He was smiling broadly. 

"Harry Potter. It is so good to see you, Harry Potter. And you has brought your Ginny Weasey and your Cassie with you. What does you want, Harry Potter? What can Dobby get for you?" Harry got a rather sick-looking smile on his face. Cassie had an immediate feeling of panic. The elves - the elves knew her real name? How? Would she have to leave Hogwarts?" 

"Look, Dobby. I know you remember Cassie from before but she is calling herself Pia now and you must never call her Cassie. Ever. Not even down here in the kitchens." Harry got a fairly stern look on his face. "I mean it, Dobby. Pia, never Cassie." 

"Whatever you say, Harry Potter. Harry Potter's Cassie is now Harry Potter's Pia. I won't forget, Harry Potter. I won't." 

"Good." Harry smiled. "How are you, Dobby? And Winky?"

"We are good, Harry Potter. How is Harry Potter and his Weasey and his Ginny Weasey? Ginny rolled her eyes as Cassie tried not to laugh out loud. 

"All fine, Dobby. My Weasey, uh, Ron, had his arm hurt today during Quidditch, though. But we did win and we hoped you would have some food we could take up for a small victory celebration." 

"Of course, of course. Dobby got some ready earlier. Dobby knew Harry Potter would win the match. Harry Potter is the best Seeker to ever play for Hogwarts and the best wizard to ever live. Dobby knew he would catch the Snitch." Harry flushed a little at the superlative praise and Cassie smiled to herself. Apparently, Harry had a lifelong fan in this little house-elf. But that was okay. In her opinion, Harry needed a few more fans. 

Dobby had a case of butterbeer under one of the tables. Harry smiled gratefully and pulled it over to the door. "Great. Thanks, Dobby. I was hoping we could get some of that. Do you have anything else we could take?" 

"What does Harry Potter want?" 

Cassie thought a few minutes later that the Gryffindors must be a hungry bunch. All three of them were loaded up under rather large piles of pastries, cakes, biscuits, pumpkin pasties, and pies. Harry also was going to spell the case of butterbeer up the steps although Cassie had no idea how he was going to carry his wand in order to do it. She thought it might be rather handy to shrink it all and carry it in their pockets but apparently that wasn't as easy as it sounded because neither Ginny nor Harry suggested it and she decided against asking, in case it was a stupid idea. Harry put his things down on the nearest table and took his wand out of his pocket. "Locomotor butterbeer." The case rose in front of them and then Harry put his wand under his arm and picked up all of his stuff. "Come on. We better get going or there's bound to be a riot. Thanks, everyone. We appreciate it." They left the warmth of the kitchens and started back up the stairs to the commons room. As they walked, Cassie was still marveling over Dobby and the other elves. They were so strange looking, but nice. And why was the one wearing clothes when none of the others were? Then she remembered Hermione and her ban from the kitchens.

"Uh, you never really explained why Hermione's banned from the kitchens."

Harry and Ginny laughed a little, trying hard not to jiggle their arms. Cassie smiled at their amusement but was still perplexed. Finally Harry explained. "It's that S.P.E.W. thing of hers. Every time she went down into the kitchens she would give speeches about breaking the chains of elf slavery and rising up in rebellion. They tried shoving muffins or fruit into her mouth to keep her quiet, but she just kept it up. That's when they nicely but firmly invited her not to come back again. Now, they just try to avoid her. They think she's a bit nutters." 

Cassie smiled but felt bad for Hermione. She was only trying to help. And besides, Cassie agreed with Hermione. She was not only amazed but shocked at the elves. Their simple devotion to completely please the witches and wizards in the castle was unbelievable. Cassie felt sorry that the only thing that seemed to make the elves happy was servitude. "Why did Dobby wear different clothes than all the others? And he seems to like you a lot more than the other elves do." 

So Harry briefly outlined his history with Dobby. 

"So, now that he can wear whatever clothes he wants to, he tends to overcompensate a little bit for all those years he had to wear a dirty pillowcase. And you saw how much he loved socks." 

"That's a funny story but it's terrible he was a slave. And to someone who was so mean to him." Cassie looked carefully at Ginny and Harry. "You know who it was, don't you? You just didn't say, to be diplomatic." 

"Yeah. I just. . . . well, okay. It was the Malfoys." 

Cassie scowled. "They really are some slimy individuals, aren't they? But the point is, anyone could treat the elves like that and it would be perfectly legal. That's why they really need to be free." 

"You're right, Pia. And so is Hermione. It's just not so simple to tell all the elves they're free and think everything will be fine. They've had generations of doing the same thing. That's all they know. I'm sure they'll be free someday - maybe not so far in the future. But it has to be done in a way where they won't be left with nothing to do and no purpose in life. But we're all hoping that having Dobby down there will be a positive influence on these elves, anyway. They seem to be fairly accepting of his strange ways." 

Cassie smiled at Harry. "You're right. I . . . uh, hope I didn't offend either of you. I just didn't grow up where you have slaves . . . I mean . . . servants. It's really different for me."

Ginny nodded. "We don't have a house elf. Mostly because we're poor. But I don't think we'd have one even if we were rich. I can't picture my mum and dad having someone serve them when one of us could do it ourselves. But you have to admit, it is rather amusing the way they act like Hermione is a leper or something, just because she is trying to free them."

It wasn't long after that when the three of them arrived at the portrait hole. Cassie called out the password and someone came over to help them get the food inside. She could hear loud talking, laughter, and music through the entrance. As the three entered the commons room, the crowd within broke out into loud applause and cheers. Cassie suddenly felt very conspicuous and self-conscious. She tried to edge to the side and out of the spotlight that was obviously meant for Harry and Ginny. She had never seen so many people in the commons room and figured every single Gryffindor student must be in the room. And in that very crowded room, she felt very alone.

The cheers, hugs, and claps on the back were dying down a little as Harry and Ginny waded through the see of red and gold to the refreshments table. Cassie fell in right behind Ginny, pressing ahead and trying not to draw attention to herself. They deposited the food and butterbeer at the table and watched as the students swarmed like locusts. Harry handed Ginny and Cassie each a butterbeer and told them they had better grab what they wanted because there might not be much left after the rush. Each girl took some cakes and pies and followed Harry over to the fire where Ron and Hermione were sitting. 

Ron, who had his head leaning against Hermione's shoulder, appeared to be falling asleep; something rather miraculous in the midst of the tumult. Harry handed each a butterbeer and Ron gratefully took a couple of swallows. As Hermione took a drink from her bottle, Ron's eyes began to droop and he nearly lost grip of his drink. Hermione took the bottle from his hand.

"Madame Pomfrey gave him something to drink to help with the pain. She told him he would be very tired." She smiled fondly at him and continued. "She tried to get him to drink it during the game but he knew it would put him to sleep. That's why he waited until after." 

Ginny looked sympathetically at her brother. "Good thing he waited. It was a tough game as it was. Maybe he should just go up and go to bed."

"He can sleep against my shoulder for awhile. When he's really asleep I'll have Harry and a few others take him up. Right now he seems pretty comfortable." Her fingers were smoothing through his hair and Cassie thought that he actually looked dreadfully uncomfortable but Hermione was enjoying having him there and she didn't want him moved. 

Harry and Ginny looked at each other and then at Cassie and they all tried to hide their smiles. The two of them took drinks from their bottles but Harry noticed Cassie had not yet taken a drink from hers.

"What's wrong, Pia? You haven't had any of the butterbeer."

Cassie looked embarrassed. "It won't get me drunk, will it?" Her family as a rule did not drink and her mother had been pretty adamant about her not getting out of control. Plus, if she was not in complete control of herself, she might let something slip that could be dangerous. 

"No, it won't. I promise. There's barely enough alcohol in there to get a house elf drunk."

She held the bottle up and got ready to take a sip, then lowered it again. She had never had regular beer before and her few tastes of wine on holidays had not exactly convinced her that she ever wanted to drink it on a regular basis. "Um, I was just wondering . . . does it taste good?"

"Yeah. It's good. It's better warm but it's good right out of the bottle, also." 

Cassie took a tentative swallow and a pleasant, smooth, buttery taste flooded her mouth. "Ooh, this is good. I should always trust you when it comes to drinks. First pumpkin juice and now butterbeer. Maybe when I go home I can smuggle some with me. I bet even my parents would like this." Harry grinned as he swallowed again and Cassie took a more liberal drink out of her bottle. She sighed heavily, though. She really had to get that letter sent to her parents. She didn't exactly relish another trip up to the owlery but if that's what she needed to do, then she'd better get it done. They'd be seriously starting to wonder about her now. Cassie squatted down next to Hermione, who was still holding Ron's head and running her fingers through his hair. "Uh, Hermione, you were going to tell me how I can send my letter to my parents. . . but we were interrupted."

"Oh, yes. Sorry about that. Professor Dumbledore said to just leave the letter on your bed and the elves will pick it up. They'll also leave any letters from your parents there." Cassie thought for a few minutes. That system seemed fraught with potential problems, but if that was what Professor Dumbledore wanted, then she would do it. 

"All right. Um, when?"

"What?" 

"When would they pick it up?" 

"At night, I guess." Hermione got a slightly pained look on her face and Cassie remembered that Hermione's experiences with the elves was a little bit of a touchy subject and she decided she wouldn't ask anymore. She would leave the letter out tonight. If it wasn't gone in the morning, she would track the headmaster down and ask him personally what she was supposed to do. 

Cassie looked around at the commons room which was, if possible, even more chaotic than it had been when they had first slid in through the portrait hole. A few students were showing each other some interesting charms that seemed to involve a lot of hair on faces, hands, and arms. The girls were shrieking in disgust but the boys were enjoying rescuing them by removing it. Some of the other students obviously had been to the twins' joke shop because some were turning into big yellow birds and then molting while others had fire spewing out of their mouths. One girl was screaming as flames burst from her mouth and then, as soon as the fire had extinguished, she commented how good the chocolate tasted and asked for another from a boy who was smiling as he handed it to her. A few of the Gryffindors were dancing to the music. Cassie did not recognize the music at all. She had never heard any of the songs being sung and the tunes sounded sort of discordant. She didn't even recognize the sounds of the instruments. "What is this music? It's . . .uh, a little different."

Ginny gave her a bewildered look. "It's the Weird Sisters. They're great. Everybody listens to them." Cassie was about to comment that it was nothing like anything she'd ever heard before, but Ginny and Harry were pulled away by Colin for a team picture. Hermione was involved in talking to another of the seventh-year girls who was perched on the arm of the sofa so Cassie decided she didn't want to interrupt. She watched the Quidditch team for a few minutes as they hammed for the camera and Colin tried to get them in some sort of order. 

Feeling a little braver than she had a few minutes earlier, she decided to mill about the room and get a better view of what everyone was doing. She went over first to Neville, Dean, Seamus and Pavarti. There were a few younger girls there also who Cassie did not know. All of them were enjoying some of the twins' products and Cassie smiled as she watched. The girl was fanning her mouth as smoke was wafting out. Neville popped a canary creme into his mouth and a moment later he turned into a very large canary. The small group, including Cassie, started laughing. A moment or two later Neville molted and grinned. "I love those things. They taste so good, they're worth turning into a bird." Cassie almost started laughing again as she remembered his saying the same thing last summer. Neville turned to Cassie and smiled. "Hi, Pia. We're trying out some of your cousins' products. Do you want a canary creme?" 

Cassie hesitated and then started to reach for one. As she did so, she noticed Ginny watching her with a worried look. Ginny gave a slight shake of her head and Cassie realized she wasn't sure how George and Fred's canary creme would affect a Muggle The Dragon Kisses had worked out all right, but that had not actually involved her turning into an animal. "Um, thanks, but no thanks. I've had plenty of their stuff in the past and I've made it a policy to avoid it whenever possible."

"Are you sure?" She nodded and took another drink of her butterbeer. 

"Have you started on that Herbology assignment yet?" 

"No. I'll probably do it tonight or tomorrow. I hope I can do better at the homework than I did with those nasty little plants." Neville laughed. 

"You didn't do too badly, considering you obviously haven't had much training. It is an advanced class, after all." 

"Yeah. I guess I was rather stupid to think I could do it." 

"Oh, you'll be fine. Look, um, if you need help with it, Herbology is one of my best subjects." 

"Okay. Thanks, Neville." Cassie knew there was no way she could ask Neville for help. For one thing, she could not allow herself to make an error that would expose her as someone completely ignorant of all things magical but even more of a problem was the fact that she could not even write with the quill pen. "I really do appreciate it. I'm sure you have enough to keep you busy. But, I'll keep it in mind." She spotted Colin now over by the refreshment table and decided to go talk to him. She had felt kind of bad earlier leaving him up in the stands even though Elspeth had been with him and neither of them had looked too unhappy. 

"Hi, Colin. Did the picture turn out?" 

"Once they stopped goofing off. Did you have fun today?"

"I had a great time. I wasn't really sure I'd like watching. . . ." Oh, dear. Colin didn't know she had never seen a Quidditch game. What was she going to say now? "I wasn't sure how good the school teams would be, you know? I've mainly watched professional, but they were really impressive." 

"So, who's your favorite?"

"What?"

"Quidditch team. Who do you cheer for?" 

Oh, oh. What had she just gotten herself into? Her mind scrambled. "The Cannons?" 

"Oh, no! Not you, too! What is it with you Weasleys? Do you just enjoy cheering for the losers?" 

"I guess. Either that, or it's the orange -- kind of goes with the hair." Colin laughed uproariously and Cassie was proud that she had remembered that. She had completely forgotten that Hermione had said the Cannons were the worst team in the league, though. Not that it mattered because that was the only team she knew. Colin got called away a moment later to take some more pictures, but not before reminding her that both she and Elspeth were going to look at his photo album tomorrow. 

As Cassie walked away, a younger looking boy with a freckled face and a big smile came up to her and introduced himself. "Hi, I'm Zach. You must be the Weasleys' cousin. You're as pretty as all the guys said. Uh, how would you like me to show you around the place and help you feel at home? Have you ever seen the Forbidden Forest, or the lower dungeons, or maybe the astronomy tower?" Cassie didn't know whether to laugh or be offended. She gracefully thanked him and tried to get away as quickly as possible. 

Cassie saw Saffron and Rhiannon visiting with a couple of the Quidditch players and walked over to them. She smiled shyly at the group. Saffron introduced her. "Pia, have you met Honey Tattershall and Kenton Wandweelder?"

"Yes, earlier. That was a great game." They thanked her and they talked for a few minutes about the game, Cassie just nodding at their various comments. Cassie looked across the room, trying to find Ginny again, and noticed Zach watching her. He smiled and winked at her. Her eyes widened a little in surprise and she shifted so she wouldn't be facing him. A moment or so later she moved back to the refreshment table. She picked up another pumpkin pastie and then turned to see Zach standing next to her. She looked down at him in disbelief as he smiled broadly and winked at her again. She smiled, excused herself and headed directly back to Harry and Ginny who she could now see were visiting with Hermione.

"I don't believe this."

"What's wrong, Pia?"

"That boy over there. The one with the brown hair who looks like he's about twelve. He keeps flirting with me. He even volunteered to show me around, but mainly areas like the Forbidden Forest and the Astronomy Tower."

Harry looked over at the boy. "The little flirt. Those are the main places everyone goes to snog." 

Ginny laughed, looking at him with a mixture of humor and surprise. "You've never taken me there, Harry. I didn't even know you knew about them." 

Harry grinned rather sheepishly. "Well, they can be pretty busy at times. We've found some better places, anyway. But that's beside the point." Ginny looked questioningly over in the direction where Zach had been standing a few minutes before.

"Who is it?" Cassie pointed him out for her. 

Harry asked Hermione for confirmation. "Isn't that the Parker boy?" At Hermione's nod in the affirmative, Harry said, "I'll make sure he doesn't bother you again."

"Please don't hurt him, Harry. I don't think he meant any harm."

"Don't worry, Pia, I'm not going to hurt him. I'm just going to let him know you're not interested."

Hermione stirred, gently laying Ron's head on the arm of the couch. She asked Harry if he and a few others could help Ron up to his room. Harry grabbed Dean who happened to be walking by and they both took one of Ron's arms and led him carefully toward the steps. Hermione stood up and stretched. 

"Well, I think I'll go upstairs and read before dinner. I suppose you're going to wait for Harry to come back down, Ginny? How about you, Pia? Do you want to head up?"

By this time, Cassie decided she needed a break from all the people and noise and gratefully accepted Hermione's offer. The two of them climbed the winding staircase to their respective rooms and Cassie laid down for a short nap. She awoke only when Ginny shook her and told her it was time for dinner. "Come on, Pia. It's time for dinner. And remember, the elves were fixing stew and pork chops." 

"Well, I'm not really hungry." Cassie actually was extremely full from all the sweets she had consumed in the afternoon. But since she knew it would now be several hours before she had a chance to eat again and since she was feeling a little bit nutritionally deficient, she decided she would at least try to eat something healthy. "Okay. I'm coming." She stood up slowly and slipped her school robe back on. She looked Ginny over carefully. She had a distinct pinkness in her cheeks that Cassie did not remember from the cold and wind. "What have you been up to since I saw you last?" 

Ginny face got a little pinker. "Nothing, really. Just celebrating." Cassie chuckled under her breath.

"Okay. Let's go. I'm seriously in need of something with a vitamin or two. I promised my mum I'd eat healthy here and I don't think I'm really living up to it." The two of them walked down the stairs where they met Hermione. 

"Harry should be down in a minute. I sent him upstairs to see if Ron would wake up. I didn't think that pain potion Madam Pomfrey gave him was that strong. But he was really asleep."

"Maybe he didn't sleep well last night," Ginny offered. "He always worries so much before a match." Before Hermione could reply to this, Ron emerged from the stairway, looking a little run down but his eyes were open. Right behind him was Harry. 

"Sorry, we're a little slow. He wanted to get up but he had a hard time getting coordinated enough to get his robe on." They all walked down to dinner, all of them guiding Ron periodically as he tended to stop in the middle of hallway and look around like he wanted to sit down somewhere if he could just find a comfortable seat. He did revive a little at the sight of the stew, ladling some into a bowl quickly and grabbing a couple of the rolls that were in bowls along the table. 

Cassie thought the rolls looked good and took one. As she did so, she looked down the table several places and saw the same young boy smiling at her. However, when their eyes met, he got a nervous look on his face and looked down at his plate. Cassie chuckled under her breath and turned to Harry who was sitting next to her. "I get the feeling you talked with that boy, uh, what's his name." 

Harry grinned. "Yeah. I don't think he'll be bothering you again. And, before you even ask, I didn't threaten him. I just told him you were flattered, but weren't interested in dating a younger boy." 

Cassie chuckled again and reached for the salad rather than the stew, piling her bowl high with it. Neville, who was sitting next to her, raised an eyebrow at her as she dug right in it a moment later. "Oh, uh, don't worry, Neville. I'm just full from the party. I'm not a vegetarian or anything." 

"What's a . . . vegetation?"

"A vegetarian. Someone who doesn't eat meat? Haven't you ever heard of one?" He shook his head, and Cassie felt a little twinge of nervousness in her stomach. Maybe they didn't have vegetarian witches and she had just made a huge mistake. "I learned about them in my travels with my parents. They're quite the in thing in America." 

Neville laughed. "Well, that explains it. I'm not very aware of anything that could be considered the in thing." Cassie just smiled back and continued eating. Those elves must know magic. It was December and these vegetables tasted like they had just come from a backyard garden. A few moments later, just has she had taken a bite of her roll, a soft murmur rose from the table all around her. Even Ginny, sitting on her other side, said something to Harry. Cassie looked around. Everyone was watching an owl fly in from a window high up in the wall. And it was headed right for the Gryffindor table. There was nothing particularly odd about this, but every eye along the entire table was watching it and some from the other tables as well, Cassie noticed. 

The owl got closer and Cassie noticed that it was carrying a large red envelope which it promptly dropped on the table, right in front of Saffron. The entire hall was so quiet now that she could have heard a pin drop if she'd have had one. Cassie stared, like everyone else, at the envelope and the girl who regarded it with a mixture of resignation and disgust. Saffron reached for it, and opened the flap. What happened next shocked Cassie so much that she almost fell off the bench, only barely keeping her seat. An extremely loud voice suddenly echoed through the hall. It was so loud that it hurt her ears and she could have sworn that the pumpkin juice in her goblet was rippling as each word burst into the air. 

"SAFFRON NIGHTSCALL! I HEARD ABOUT YOUR TRANSFIGURATION GRADE AND I AM TOTALLY DISGUSTED! YOU HAD BETTER GET YOURSELF TOGETHER, YOUNG LADY, OR YOU ARE GOING TO FIND YOURSELF STUDYING OVER CHRISTMAS BREAK RATHER THAN GOING OUT WITH FRIENDS! AND I MEAN IT!"

Everyone in the entire hall laughed long and loud as the envelope disappeared in a puff of flame and smoke. Cassie just sat and stared down the table at where the envelope had been a second before. Ginny leaned over to her and whispered, "That's a howler. You get them when someone is really mad at you." Cassie didn't say anything but it wasn't the screaming or the small explosion that had frightened her. It was the fact that she had heard that voice before. She knew she had, even though it was now magnified about 100 times. She had heard it before, but she didn't know when or where. 

"Who was that?" 

"Saffron's dad. He's in the Ministry, I think. No. I'm positive. He's like the Assistant Minister or something to Fudge. You can ask her about it. She's proud of it." 

"Have I ever met him before?" Cassie tried to keep her voice light, conversational. No one was really listening to them, but she didn't want anyone to start. 

"I don't think so. I mean . . . where would you have?"

"I don't know. He's in the Ministry?" 

"Yeah." Cassie thought for a minute, trying to place the voice. She'd probably met him in George and Fred's shop at some point. In fact, she remembered one time there had been someone who obviously thought he was very important in the shop demanding that the twins help him with something. She couldn't really remember what he looked like but he was dark-haired like Saffron. She was positive about that. She tried to remember what he had said and what his voice had sounded like, but it wouldn't come to mind. Oh, well. It wasn't important anyway. She finished her salad trying along with Ginny not to laugh too hard when Ron fell asleep at the table partway through his stew and Hermione had to wake him up. 

After dinner, they all straggled back up to the commons room, Harry helping Ron along. Hermione was clucking over him like a mother hen. The room had been straightened up and Hermione was torn between upbraiding everyone for leaving it a huge mess which the elves then had to clean up or making sure that Ron got up to his bed safely. Cassie could tell it was a very big internal struggle. Hermione opened her mouth several times, prepared to say something to the various students lounging about the commons room, but then she would snap it shut and turn to Ron and Harry again. Finally, she focused all her attention on Ron as Harry and Seamus half carried him up the steps. 

Cassie threw herself down with the other two girls onto one of the soft squishy couches by the fire. She supposed she should rouse herself to do some homework and she was feeling terribly guilty that she still hadn't mailed the letter off to her parents. After all, she had found time to mail one to George. But right now, she just wanted to sit in front of this fire and not move for at least an hour. She was warm and full and content. And any niggling fear that she had in the back of her brain about what had happened on Wednesday night was easily suppressed. It was at least 30 minutes before Harry emerged again and he looked a little worse for wear. 

"Okay, Hermione. You owe me big time. I don't know why he couldn't have just slept in his robes and things. It was almost impossible to get his robes and shoes off and get him under the covers. He's not small. Plus, he was grouchy and didn't want to move an arm here and a leg there." 

"Sorry, Harry." But Cassie thought she didn't look terribly contrite. 

"Is anyone up for a game of chess?" He indicated several boards over on one of the tables. Hermione groaned and shook her head. Cassie considered it for about 15 seconds. She had quite enjoyed playing against him the previous summer but she hadn't played since then and wasn't sure she was ready to be humiliated in front of a room full of strangers. Ginny accepted Harry's challenge and a few minutes later Cassie was staring in complete amazement at the chess pieces as they were placed on the board.

They really did move and seemed to like to complain loudly as they were moved into positions where they were at risk, or even worse, captured. The first time one of the small pieces was smashed to smithereens by another one and hauled off to the side of the board, Cassie had to almost cover her mouth to keep from shrieking in surprise. It was terribly gory to watch. Both Harry and Ginny were evenly matched, as far as Cassie could tell, and most of the players were removed from the board in pieces before Harry finally triumphed. "Learned that from your book, Pia. It's served me well. I've practically got some parts memorized." 

Cassie smiled happily. "I'm glad. Have you beat Ron yet?"

"No. But I have made him work a lot harder to beat me. I'm still optimistic that one day I'll catch him off guard." Cassie excused herself a few minutes later and headed up to bed. She was exhausted and even though she knew she would be able to sleep in late the next morning, she was anxious to get to bed as early as possible. 

She was alone in the room when she got up there and she reached into her bookbag to pull out the letter to her parents. It seemed like days since she had written it even though she knew it had only been yesterday afternoon. She read it over quickly and then placed it at the foot of her bed. She hoped that the elves would find it there even though it was inside her bed hangings. Ginny hadn't said anything about the elves actually looking in on them while they slept and that thought made her a little uncomfortable. But, if that was what Dumbledore thought was best, then she would endure it. After all, the elves had been very nice in the kitchens. 

She put her clothes at the end of the bed again, marveling at how they managed to get all that laundry done every night. She had changed into her flannel nightgown (with her back to the picture that kept insisting on winking at her) and slipped into the warmth of her bed when Ginny came in. Much to Cassie's surprise, she was carrying a huge armload of clothes, crumpled and dirty, in her arms which she threw down by the bed. 

"What are those, Ginny? Are those more of your robes or something?" 

Ginny looked up at her wryly, and Cassie thought that she was trying not to laugh. "No. They're Hermione's. The elves refuse to pick up her laundry anymore."

"You're kidding! Just because she tells them about maybe being free one day?"

"Well, no. It's mainly because she tried to hide clothes for them in with the laundry, trying to trick them and force them to be free. For a while, Dobby was the only one who would even clean this tower at all and he would have to do everyone's laundry. But it got to be too much for him. So, now they just refuse to pick anything up around her bed. I bring her clothes down here every week and they wash it and return it to me. I'm sure they know it's actually hers . . . but it's a compromise." 

Cassie just shook her head in amazement. "Poor Hermione. She's just trying to help them."

"Yeah. But she hasn't figured out that they really don't want her help." Ginny settled into bed a few minutes later and they both were tired enough that they didn't feel like talking. "Goodnight, Pia. Sleep well."

"Yeah, you too." Cassie pulled the bed hangings closed, snuggling deeper into her covers. And it didn't take very long for her to fall asleep. 


	18. A Quiet Sunday

Chapter 18

A Quiet Sunday

Cassie awoke Sunday morning feeling homesick for her family and her own bed. Sunday mornings were always special at home. It was the one day where all of her family, including her dad, were sure to be together. Her dad always cooked breakfast, quite often taking breakfast to her mum in bed while the kids ate in the kitchen. He usually cooked his special omelets stuffed full of ham and bacon, several different types of peppers, a couple of different types of onions, mushrooms and plenty of cheese. After a leisurely breakfast was church, followed by family activities like a picnic at a park or a visit to a museum or just spending a quiet afternoon together at home. Cassie had thought of her family a number of times the two full days she had been at Hogwarts. She had missed them, but had been too busy to really dwell on how far apart they were. But now, lying quietly in bed, Cassie had the time for it all to sink in. She missed them horribly and hoped that she would be able to go back home soon. 

After a couple of minutes of quietly crying, Cassie calmed down, wiped away her tears and silently berated herself. She was not going to mope around feeling sorry for herself in front of her friends. They had opened their hearts and their school to her. Furthermore, they were protecting her, perhaps even at the risk of their own lives. No, she was not going to be grumpy. She was going to force herself to be happy and cheerful and felt that if she did that, well, her heart might be fooled just like everyone else. 

Cassie drew back the curtains to her bed and looked around the room, now awash in the bright winter sunshine. The other beds, including Ginny's, still had their curtains closed. Except for Saffron's. She was sitting on the edge of her bed slipping on her shoes. She had already showered and dressed and was ready to head downstairs. Cassie smiled at her. Saffron smiled back but the smile didn't extend to her eyes. Cassie suddenly realized Saffron had been very quiet after the howler last night and had still been in a corner of the commons room studiously poring over her books when she had come upstairs. 

"Hey! You're getting an early start."

"Uh, yeah. I'm going to have to spend the day studying." Saffron grimaced and picked up her very full bookbag. 

"Yeah. I need to do some homework today, too. I've got a lot of catching up to do in some of the subjects."

"Well, hopefully your parents aren't the type to send howlers and embarrass the hell out of you in front of the whole school." 

"No, they're not. I can imagine how . . ."

"Not unless you've received one. Trust me. They're a lot worse than you would expect. It's humiliating." She turned to leave the room and then seemed to change her mind as she turned again and walked toward Cassie, feeling like she needed to explain. "I love my dad. And he loves me, too. He's just kind of tough when it comes to grades and other things like that. It's . . . well, it's because we're pure blood. There aren't as many pure blood families any more and he feels we always have to be the best at everything. Perfect. Living up to our pure heritage and all of that junk. Well, you understand what I mean. You're pure blood and I'm sure you get the same lecture." She looked at Cassie with a speculative expression. "Then again, maybe you don't if you're like your cousins - Muggle lovers and all. Don't seem to have much pride in wizarding blood." Behind the words was an unspoken challenge to Cassie to disagree. Cassie didn't dare say anything although of course she did think that was a rather stupid attitude. She thought it entirely possible Saffron would punch her if she actually said that. She had a level of pent-up energy that to Cassie seemed a little dangerous. The dark-haired girl left a few moments later, leaving Cassie to her own devices. She thought about trying to go back to sleep, but decided against it. This might be a really good time to head down to the shower. 

By the time Ginny had awakened and pulled back her bed curtains, Cassie had gone down, showered, towel-dried her hair, done her makeup, and was back up and just buttoning her blouse. Cassie cheerfully wished her a good morning, hoping she did indeed sound cheerful. Ginny looked at her in surprise and motioned to her hair. Cassie walked over and whispered that she had just towel-dried the hair and would let it dry the old-fashioned way. Ginny grinned, climbed out of bed, grabbed her robe and toiletries and started for the door. Cassie grabbed her makeup bag and stuffed it into Ginny's hands. Ginny smiled a thanks and left. 

While Cassie was waiting for Ginny to come back from the showers, Hermione came looking for her clean laundry. It was laying neatly folded on the top of Ginny's trunk. After a few hellos to Cassie and the other two girls who were just barely emerging from their bed curtains, Hermione left with her load of clean clothes. Cassie thought about the elves and then remembered her letter to her parents. She checked the end of her bed. Sure enough, the letter was gone. She really tried not to get too freaked out at the thought of one of those little elves looking in on her while she slept. They were very nice and she was sure they didn't stand by the bed and stare at the students. If they did that, they would never get everything done.

Cassie and Ginny descended the steps into the common room where Hermione and the boys were engaged in a lively discussion of something that Cassie could not overhear. They went down for breakfast and even though Cassie told herself that she shouldn't be disappointed, the simple breakfast of porridge and canned fruit was a bit of a let-down. She ate as much as she could, which wasn't much, knowing that it would be a long day before dinner. She spent quite a bit of the breakfast time staring up at the ceiling. Now that she knew its secret, it was fascinating to watch the clouds as they passed overhead. She and the others eventually made their way up to the commons room where all the students present seemed to be in deep study. Cassie noted Saffron in the same corner as before with books, charts, parchment, a quill and some partly eaten pieces of toast surrounding her.

Cassie sighed in resignation as she pulled open her bookbag about 20 minutes later. She had situated herself in the middle of one of the large tables with Ginny on one side and Hermione on the other. The two boys were slower coming downstairs but they would, naturally, be sitting at the same table with them. Hermione had enlisted the help of her very large cat Crookshanks to sit on the sixth chair at the table. She had told the cat to hiss if anyone tried to push him off. Cassie was not sure if this would actually work but it was probably better than nothing. As it was, they were going to have to be very careful as they worked on Cassie's homework and they didn't want anyone else sitting in that seat and overhearing how much help Ginny and Hermione were giving her. She really did not know how difficult this was going to be but she certainly was not looking forward to finding out. 

Cassie had decided to start with her Defense essay first and then work on the Herbology worksheet. Then, if she needed to, she could come back to the essay for proofreading and making another copy. Not that she wanted to have to write the thing twice, but she would if she had to. The thing was, and she realized this with a rather depressed quirk of her lips, she had only had two classes where homework was even assigned and then she had three days to work on them. She did not know what was going to happen as she got into the swing of things fully next week and had many more assignments and only a few hours at night to work on them. Of course, she didn't really care if her grades were bad. As long as they were good enough to keep her in the classes with Ginny and not get her humiliated in front of other students who might get suspicious at her pitiful efforts. 

She thought for a minute as the other two girls pulled out their books and quills and dug right into their assignments. She was supposed to write on her experience under the Imperius Curse. Cassie dipped the blasted quill into the ink bottle and started writing. She worked hard on the essay, barely grunting in response when Ginny would ask how she was doing or Ron would launch into a major complaint session about their potions class. She couldn't believe that two hours had passed by the time she put her quill down. Her hands were ink-stained and she had one blotch on her jeans but all in all the parchment looked fairly decent. If she were in kindergarten, she'd even say it was good. She glanced sideways at Hermione who was busily writing a very complex looking paper. Her writing was perfect - almost like calligraphy -- and Cassie groaned at the comparison. Oh, well. That was all right. 

"How long was that essay supposed to be?" Hermione asked as she noticed Cassie waiting for the ink to dry before rolling up her parchment. 

"Uh. How long is it supposed to be? What do you mean?" 

"Did Lupin assign a length? Like 2 feet or 6 inches or anything?" Ginny seemed deeply involved in the potions textbook and wasn't paying any attention to their conversation and Hermione got ready to poke her when Cassie suddenly remembered. 

"I think he said 12 inches. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah. That's typical for him. You need to add at least one more inch, then. That's not long enough." 

"You mean you measure the length of the essay?" That concept was so bizarre to Cassie that she felt a bubble of laughter in the back of her throat and fought to suppress it. The entire common room was quiet, with students studying quite hard at the various tables and some reading on the couches. 

"Well, you don't' have to measure. But I can assure you that the professors do. The standard parchment sheet is 18 inches and your haven't filled up enough of it." She sounded quite sanctimonious about it. 

"That's got to be two-thirds of the parchment, Hermione." 

"Trust me." Cassie's eyes widened with surprise as Hermione pulled out a measuring tape and held it up against the parchment. Eleven inches. Dang. "Another inch." She turned back to her work, expecting Cassie to get right back to work. Cassie stared for a moment at the parchment. It was dry now, ready to be rolled up. She even looked at her quill which was ready and waiting to be used to add another inch of some nonsense at the end of an already completed essay. 

"No. I'm not going to do it, Hermione. After all, what's he going to do? Fail me?" Hermione just shrugged but she looked a little disappointed. Cassie rolled upthe parchment and tucked it into her bookbag. It would do. And she still had the nastier assignment to do, so she didn't want to waste any more time on this one. 

She stood up and stretched, glancing around at the other four seated at the table. Ginny was obviously working on the potions essay she had been assigned as she had a textbook opened in front of her to a page labeled "Veritaserum - A Truly Difficult Potion." Cassie stared at the heading for a minute. Someone must have a really warped sense of humor for that one. She couldn't really tell what the other three were studying. Ron had a big pile of crumpled parchments by his elbow and was looking extremely aggravatedly at the piece he was trying to work on. Harry seemed to take a more methodical approach to his work. His bright green eyes were moving quickly over the text in a thick book and he was scribbling notes on a sheet of parchment he had tucked under the corner of the heavy volume. He must have felt Cassie's eyes on him as he suddenly looked up and met her blue gaze. She flushed under his scrutiny and sat back down quickly into her chair. He smiled at her and she returned it. He looked back down at his book and Cassie felt stupid for staring at him any longer. So she dug into her bookbag again for the much despised Herbology book. 

Ginny apparently needed some help with the potions essay because after about a half hour she leaned over Cassie and asked Hermione a question. Hermione answered it quickly, then scowled heavily. "I still don't understand. What happened in Potions on Friday?" Ginny gave a quick rundown of the class and how they had been separated. 

"It's completely unfair that I should have to do this stupid essay. The girls' cauldron behind me exploded and while we were trying to get the hot Veritaserum off us that we missed the exact moment to add the next stupid ingredient. And he knows that's what happened, too! That's what's so frustrating!" Hermione's scowl deepened. 

"He's having you brew Veritaserum?" Ginny got a very aggravated look on her face.

"Yes. Which is ridiculous because it's not on the curriculum! He's just trying to use it as a threat against Pia. He said he wanted to use it on her!" That not only got Hermione's attention, but also Ron and Harry's. 

Three simultaneous voices said "What?!" at once and there was a ripple through the commons room as various students looked up at the noise. 

"Yeah. He said he always tests the students' Veritaserum potions by using them on various students. And he was looking right at Pia." Harry and Ron started spluttering about how evil Snape was, a seemingly well-rehearsed speech that they pulled out often for such occasions. Harry started talking quickly about how they'd have to have Dumbledore tell Snape that he wasn't allowed to use the potion on any students. Ron was just spluttering in indignation. 

"This is not good. This is seriously not good." Hermione was unaware that her quill, held against her parchment, was leaking ink and making a very messy blotch on her otherwise perfect parchment scroll. "We'll have to tell Dumbledore immediately about this." 

"Oh, we've got plenty of time. He said it takes a long time to brew, I think three weeks. By then it will be Christmas and I should be long gone by then." Cassie was whispering and looking around to see if anyone else was listening to their urgent conversation. 

"Yeah, but we all know Snape. I wouldn't put it past him to pull out a batch he made a while ago and say that he didn't want to wait a month." Ginny looked down at her book. "I guess he could do anything he wants. He's tested stuff on us before - other classes' attempts and all that." 

"Veritaserum is a highly dangerous drug, Ginny."

"I know. Pia definitely should not be forced to take some. It could ruin everything." 

"That's true but that's not what I'm worried about. Did you know that we cannot use Veritaserum on Muggles.?"

"No. I didn't." 

"Well, it's true, we can't. The ingredients are, um, poisonous to them. It will kill them!" Hermione was now whispering louder and some students were looking around, hoping to see what all the fuss was about. Cassie blanched. "Keep your Skiving Snackboxes with you. You cannot take that potion. Absolutely not." 

"Okay. I'll remember." Cassie was nervous about that announcement. She had been hoping to tell Professor Dumbledore that she would be happy to take the Veritaserum if it proved that what she was saying was actually true. That idea was instantly shot down. 

Cassie closed her Herbology textbook about an hour later with a sigh of relief and rolled up the blasted worksheet she had had to fill out. She was tired and ready for a break from her quill and ink bottle. This worksheet had been really hard and she had made a complete disaster of it many times. Hermione had cast a cleaning spell over it several times until Cassie finally felt like it was not so bad that the teacher would get suspicious. She thanked Hermione for cleaning up her work. Hermione smiled and went back to studying, or attempting to. Ron, who had raced through the last part of his homework, was sitting next to her looking bored and doing what he could to get her attention. This included whispering and even lightly blowing in her ear, moving her book back and forth, and taking her quill and parchment and writing on it. This had particularly gotten Hermione's attention since when she read the little notes, her face turned pink and she grinned. However, she muttered something about his not even getting a peck on the cheek if he didn't leave her alone and let her finish her homework. Harry and Ginny grinned at each other as they too closed their books and began putting things back into their bookbags. 

Cassie checked her watch and realized she and Elspeth were supposed to meet Colin in about fifteen minutes. She grabbed her bookbag and headed up the stairs quickly. She didn't want to make either of them wait for her. Ginny joined her and mentioned she and Harry were going to go for a walk. Cassie smiled to herself. Apparently, Sunday was a good day for the couples to relax and have a chance to be a little more romantic. She waited for a pang of jealously toward Ginny to surface, but actually only felt slightly envious that she had someone to spend a quiet Sunday with while Cassie was going to be spending her afternoon trying to get Elspeth and Colin together. She wished that she had someone at Hogwarts whom she could escape with, either to the Astronomy Tower or one of the places Harry had mentioned the night before. 

Elspeth was fussing with her hair when the two girls came into the room and Cassie could only imagine that she was extremely nervous. She was wearing a neat print skirt and a soft-looking sweater. Cassie smiled at her kindly when she turned to look at her. Elspeth's eyes were bright with excitement and nervousness. "Do I look all right?"

"You look beautiful. Really. I'm sure he'll be blown away." Elspeth smiled a shaky thanks and started fussing with her hair again. 

"He thinks you're pretty." 

"No, I don't think so. I think it's just that . . . I'm new. I'm someone that hasn't ever seen them when they were 11 and trying to learn to fly a broom. I've never seen them get a howler or a million other embarrassing things that I'm sure you all get used to when you live with people as closely as you students do. That's all it is, really." 

Elspeth looked hopefully up at her. "So you think that maybe I stand a chance?" 

"Of course you do. I like Colin but I don't think I'm interested in him in a romantic way or anything. I was going to tell him that but seeing him with you yesterday made me wonder if I really have to. He may have found something else to occupy him." Elspeth giggled and Cassie smiled at her again. "Come on. We'll be late if we don't head down there right away." 

"Don't you think it's good for him to have to wait a bit?" They both laughed. Cassie quickly glanced in Elspeth's mirror to make sure that she didn't have ink on her face. She decided that she could probably freshen her makeup a little bit and stepped over to her bed to grab her makeup case from her trunk. Her eyes opened wide. George's owl was sitting on her bed, three letters clutched in its talons. 

"Ooh. Icharus! Ginny, George sent us all some letters!" Cassie was surprised to find her heartbeat speeding up a little bit. Maybe Sunday would be a romantic day for her, also. "Elspeth, can you wait just another minute?" 

"Of course. No problem. I think I'll go brush my teeth again, anyway." She scampered out the door and Cassie watched her go for a second before she turned greedily back to the owl. The letters were from Fred and George and addressed to Cassie, Ginny, and Ron. Ginny sat down next to Cassie on her bed and both girls opened their letters. Ginny tucked Ron's into her pocket to give to him when she saw him later. Cassie's heart was still beating fast as she quickly scanned her letter and then read it more slowly.

Dear Pia, It was very good hearing from you. I always love to get letters from my cousins, especially you. Everyone is okay here. Dad and the others are working as hard as they can on the situation. Hogwarts is the best place you can be right now. Dumbledore won't let anything happen to you. Stick close to Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione. Maybe you can join the D.A. and learn some protective spells from Harry. He's a really good teacher. Talk with Ginny and Harry about it. I know Lupin is teaching Defense this year (finally, a decent teacher) and he may be willing to give you private lessons on the side. Please write me back as soon as you can and let me know how you're doing. In regard to my thoughts about you, think of the ice cream shop. Your favorite cousin, George

Cassie sighed happily and then blushed as she realized that Ginny would have heard her romantic affectations. She glanced at Ginny who was fighting hard to suppress a smile. Ginny looked up at Cassie and whispered, "Even though it's signed from Fred and George, it's obvious mine was written by George. Three times he's told me to take care of you." Cassie could feel herself blushing as Ginny continued. "He really cares about you, I can tell." 

On impulse, Cassie tucked the letter along with a blank piece of parchment and her much-hated quill into her bookbag and emptied it of the heavy textbooks. She wanted to write back to him immediately but knew she would have to wait until after she saw Colin's photographs. Right now, that did not sound nearly as interesting as it had five minutes ago. Elspeth hurried into the room and put her toiletry bag back on her trunk. "All right. Are you ready?" 

"Yeah. Sorry to keep you waiting." Ginny grabbed her heavy cloak and her scarf and Cassie teased her as they left the room. 

"Don't do anything Ron would be mad about, Ginny. He will find out." Ginny just scowled. 

"If I did that, we wouldn't even be able to hold hands." The girls' light laughter echoed down the stairs and they followed it down into the commons room. Harry was waiting down there with his heavy cloak and he looked up expectantly as Cassie and Elspeth entered. 

"She's coming right behind us. She's just getting bundled up." Harry grinned happily at her and continued his vigil. Cassie and Elspeth found an empty table and sat down to wait for Colin. A few minutes later the boy appeared carrying two large photo albums in his arms. He looked around the room and got a big smile on his face when he saw the girls.

"Hi, Elspeth. Hi, Pia. Sorry I'm late. I had to finish my homework and then get the albums. What did you guys think of that essay for Lupin?" The three sat down at the table, talking animatedly about their essays, with Colin in between the two girls. He started immediately with the traditional still Muggle photos. Elspeth stared in amazement at them commenting on how weird they looked. She couldn't imagine having a photograph that didn't move. There were both color and black and white photos of people and scenery. Cassie noted to herself how really excellent the pictures were. Colin truly did have a talent for taking photographs. She thought of her own photographs still hidden in her room at home and remembered how good they were. The thought of her own photos made her heart skip a beat. Had Colin remembered to remove his copies of those incriminating photographs?

She sat there nervously thinking of the consequences if he hadn't removed them and Elspeth recognized her. What would she say? Cassie hardly registered Colin's transition from his collection of still photographs to what he called a collection of his favorites. About two pages in, Cassie noticed a page only had a couple of photos on it rather than the five or six that the other pages had. "What happened to these pictures?" Elspeth touched the place where a picture had obviously been. 

"Oh, my mum really liked those particular shots of Dennis so I sent them home last week. I need to replace them with some other pictures, but I haven't gotten around to it yet." Cassie relaxed immediately. The two of them started chatting happily over the pictures of various students and places associated with the school and other wizarding locations and Cassie, who was unable to join in on the conversation at all, started letting her mind drift and it naturally drifted toward the letter that was now burning a hole in her bookbag. When the other two students took a break to catch their breaths, Cassie jumped in. 

"Would you two mind if I left you to finish these up alone? I've got to write a letter and my homework took a lot longer than I thought it would." 

"No. That's fine." Colin smiled at her and then turned back to his album. Elspeth looked up at her smiled gratefully. Cassie didn't feel guilty at all about leaving the two of them alone as they both looked very happy at this new development. 

Cassie found a quiet corner of another table and sat for a minute, thinking about how she would answer George's letter. She was about to suck on the tip of her quill, like she always did with her regular ballpoint pens, but caught herself before she got ink all over her face. Then she began to write.

Dear Cousin George, I was really happy to get your letter. I'm doing fine here and am keeping busy. Friday I went to Potions, Herbology and D.A.D.A. I did really well in Potions, which I guess was a surprise with Professor Snape. I didn't do too well in Herbology. Some plant started chewing on me and it kept spitting nasty black "tar" at me. Everyone laughed. Well, I didn't. D.A.D.A went well because Remus Lupin is the professor and you're right about him being a good teacher. We practiced trying to fight against the Imperius Curse and I did a lot better than I thought I would. Ginny did well, too, by the way. 

Yesterday, there was a Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Ginny told me you and Fred used to be beaters, so I watched them a lot. Someday, George, I really want to see you fly. Would that be all right? Ginny, Harry, and Ron were fantastic in the match. In fact, the whole game was incredible. Ron got hurt, but he's doing better now. Gryffindor won which made everyone really happy. Plus, it gave us a great excuse to have a party. I have to say that there were a lot of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes in attendance - Dragon Kisses, canary cremes, and a variety of other goodies were being devoured in great quantities. I passed on all of them. I still remember that one incident at the shop and decided I wasn't up for a repeat.

Ginny and the others are really treating me nicely and I know I'm definitely safe here at Hogwarts. I just hope everyone else will be safe. Take care of yourself, and write me back soon.

Love, your cousin, Pia

She read the letter again. It sounded innocuous enough although of course it just perpetrated the big lie about her supposed magical talent. She didn't have to feel guilty about not telling him, though. These letters had to be written with the thought that they might be intercepted and she definitely could not announce that she was a Muggle in one. So, that would just have to wait until she saw him again. Cassie had just finished her letter when Ginny and Harry slid through the portrait hole into the room. "It's really cold outside. We decided we'd had enough. Besides, it will be time for dinner soon. Oh, you've already written George back?" Cassie blushed and grinned. "Great, I'll write something quick and maybe we can go to the owlery on our way down to eat. Oh, and be sure to put in your letter that this next Saturday is a Hogsmeade weekend."

Cassie had no idea what exactly Ginny meant by that, but dutifully wrote,

P.S. Ginny wanted me to tell you that this Saturday is Hogsmeade weekend. 

Cassie got ready to fold the letter, took one last look at it, and was pleasantly surprised. It was actually legible. No, it wasn't great. She had to admit that the writing resembled when she was about six or seven. Even so, it was at least legible and she felt proud of that. By the time they were ready to go to dinner, Ginny had finished a note to her brothers and had slipped Cassie's letter in with hers. The three of them, Cassie, Ginny, and Harry, all headed up to the owlery to mail it off. They found Icharus dozing quietly on a perch and Ginny tied both letters to the large bird's leg and they sent it off with a call of "George Weasley, the Burrow." 

"Um, not to be stupid, but what's the burrow? You said that last time, too." Ginny flushed. 

"Oh. That's our house. The name of our house. It kind of fits it, if you ever get to see it." 

"Okay." Cassie thought that she would very much like to see this house named the Burrow. It sounded sort of interesting. They made their way to dinner where they found Ron and Hermione already digging in to what looked like a really nice meal. Next to them were Colin and Elspeth who seemed to be in an animated conversation. The three sat down across from them and next to Neville on one side and Rhiannon on the other side. 

They helped themselves to the platters of roast beef and grilled salmon. Cassie thought they both looked good and so had small helpings of both. Saffron came in a few minutes later and sat down on the other side of Rhiannon. She looked exhausted and told Rhiannon she had been studying all day on an extra-credit assignment. Cassie felt sorry that she felt so pressured by her father and again wondered who he was. She wished she were brave enough to ask Saffron for a picture of him, but she wasn't. Maybe Dumbledore would have one and then the mystery of where she had heard that voice in the howler before would be solved. 

Cassie's thoughts of Dumbledore made her look up to the head table where the Headmaster and almost all the other teachers were eating. Dumbledore was deep in conversation with Remus Lupin who was sitting next to him. She, however, felt eyes on her and looked to Lupin's side. Professor Snape was glaring menacingly at her.

Cassie looked away and tried to go back to eating. After a moment or so, she looked back up and saw that Snape was still staring at her. And he didn't look happy. In fact, he looked like he would be willing to throw a nasty curse at her if it was not forbidden by school rules. Obviously, Cassie realized with a sickening feeling in her stomach, he had heard the stories and comments going around of how she had stood up to him in his class and shown him up. She had a sudden and very unpleasant realization that Snape would do his best to maker her absolutely miserable the next time she was in his class. She no longer had an appetite and quietly laid down her fork.

Cassie was still lost in her own thoughts when a stern-looking woman with a Scottish accent approached the table. "Miss Pia Spencer? I am Professor McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor House. I feel you should know how highly irregular this is to have you begin school in the middle of the term. Furthermore, I am very concerned that you might not be prepared either in your education or your experience to handle the difficult lessons and assignments in sixth year. However," she seemed to have a very unhappy but resigned expression on her face, "Professor Dumbledore seems to feel you can more than adequately handle the assignments. I hope you will not let him or Gryffindor down."

Cassie gave a slight gulp and tried her best to look self-assured. "Uh, it's a pleasure to meet you Professor McGonagall. I appreciate being allowed to come Hogwarts and I'll do my best to do well in the classes."

"Yes, well. I've heard good things up to this point. You've got class with me tomorrow and I shall see how skilled you really are." Cassie thought that she looked almost glad that she would be able to put her through her magical paces. This did not make Cassie feel any more calm and relaxed. She hoped that she did not have Potions tomorrow as well. That could make her life very miserable. Professor McGonagall looked at Cassie with a mildly concerned expression. 

"Professor Dumbledore wants to meet with you in his office immediately following dinner. He said that the meeting concerns your parents. I think you should go along, Mr. and Miss Weasley, since you're family and it must concern you as well."

Cassie had a sudden, horrible feeling and, for a moment, thought she might get physically sick. Everyone sitting around her had shocked and concerned expressions, too. Harry stood up.

"Did he say what the problem is?"

"No, Mr. Potter, he didn't. And I didn't ask."

"Hermione and I will go with her, too."

"I think not, Mr. Potter. I don't think you need to be involved in family matters."

"But . . ." Harry looked as panicked as Cassie felt and she wished with all her heart that he could be there with her. Her eyes searched frantically for Ginny but found her standing looking a little pale and frightened, which did nothing to reassure her. 

"No buts, Mr. Potter. Now, Miss Spencer, Professor Dumbledore has left for his office, I really think you and your cousins should go up there immediately."


	19. What's Been Happening at Home?

My children have been reading this story as I have written it and look forward to each chapter as it is finished. When I finished this one, my 11-year-old daughter started it and halfway through handed it back to me and said "I can't understand anything that's going on here. It's too confusing." 

I hope that none of you will feel that way. If you do, don't despair. You can just move on to the next chapter when it's posted in a couple of days. This is an extremely plot-heavy chapter, setting up the mystery part of the story so that what happens through the rest of the story makes sense. Hopefully, I have interspersed enough humor that you can get through it. 

On another note, I have had several people ask me when George is going to be returning to the story. I don't want to give away too many specifics, but I will say that he will not show up in person for quite a long time. But we will hear from him on several different occasions. And when he does eventually appear in person, there will be plenty of snogging and cuddling. So, be patient. He can't come to Hogwarts, I'm sorry to say. It's just too dangerous. I know. I miss him, too. 

Chapter 19

What's Been Happening at Home?

The walk through the dark cold corridors of the school seemed to take a very long time. Cassie wanted to break into a run but Professor McGonagall was walking along at what seemed to be a very slow pace and Ginny and Ron were content to follow along in her wake. She would have run on ahead except that she had no idea where to go. She could have asked one of the portraits, of course, but she had a feeling that that would take longer than just crawling along with the other three people. So she bit her lip, twisted her fingers nervously, and tried to steel herself against whatever news she was about to hear. She tried to run through a quick list in her head of what could possibly have happened to them. After all, it had only been three days. But she soon got lost in such a long maze of possibilities that she gave up on the idea. Eventually, she saw the gargoyle that marked the entrance to the stairs leading up to the headmaster's office and Cassie took a deep breath. She needed to be strong now. 

Professor McGonagall left the three "cousins" at the entrance to Dumbledore's office after telling the gargoyle the password. It was no longer Canary Cremes, but instead she was pleased to note it was now Mars Bars. Both Ginny and Ron looked a little confused. "Mars Bars? What's Mars Bars? Is he off his candy theme now, or what?" Ron asked as the circular staircase rotated them gently and ever so slowly up to the actual door where Dumbledore presumably waited to give them the bad news. Cassie could have enlightened him about Mars Bars as they were one of her favourite candies, but she wasn't in the mood at the moment. Right now, she only had one thing on her mind and that was her parents. She was so nervous that her stomach was churning in giant knots. What would she do if they were dead? No, she couldn't think that way. There was no reason to think that way at all. She knew they were being guarded. She had to trust that the guards were careful. 

The three of them entered the office very quietly, unsure of what to expect. Cassie immediately saw Arthur and Remus. They looked upset but not devastated. She hoped that was a good sign. She thought if her parents were actually dead they would be more upset than they looked at the moment. Professor Dumbledore entered a moment later. 

"Ah, Miss Robinson. It's good to see you again. I imagine Professor McGonagall told you that we have some rather upsetting news about your parents?" 

Cassie wanted to answer him, she really did, but when she opened her mouth, nothing came out except for a rather high-pitched squeak. So she nodded instead and was immensely relieved to feel Ginny take hold of her hand and give her a comforting squeeze. 

"Let me tell you first of all, that your entire family is fine. No one is hurt or injured in any way. However, they have had a rather interesting weekend, more interesting than I think any of us were hoping for." Cassie had never understood the expression "weak in the knees" until that moment when she literally felt herself collapsing. Fortunately, Remus seemed to have anticipated this because a chair suddenly appeared behind her and he helped her into it before she wound up in an ungainly puddle on the floor. She sat there for a minute letting the comfort of the first part of his sentence embrace her before she had to face the second part. 

"They're okay? They're not dead?"

Professor Dumbledore's eyebrows went right up and disappeared in his hair at that question. "Dead? Heavens, no. Remus and Arthur just returned from your home about an hour ago and they were fine. They miss you, of course, and are worried about you. But I believe they even sent some correspondence, didn't they, Remus?" 

A thick envelope was pressed into her hands and at the sight of her mother's familiar childish handwriting scrawled across the envelope, Cassie almost broke down. A wave of homesickness so intense that it threatened to drown her suddenly washed over her and she concentrated for a long minute on just breathing deeply. "Oh! Thank you, Remus. And Arthur. I . . . I miss them, too." 

"We told them you did but that you were settling in just fine." Arthur was smiling kindly at her and Cassie wanted to hug all three of them in gratitude for the good news but stayed sitting in her chair, unsure if her knees would support her yet. 

"So what's wrong with her folks, then?" Ron and Ginny had pulled up two more chairs for themselves and Ron was never one to waste time in small talk. Not when he wanted to know something. Arthur scowled, Remus smiled, and Professor Dumbledore moved to sit back behind his desk. 

"Well, that is a bit of a long story, I'm afraid, which is why I wanted to tell you right away the end so that you aren't in too much agony as Arthur tells it to you. Arthur . . . please tell Miss Robinson the story as you heard it from her father." Arthur nodded and settled himself more comfortably against Professors Dumbledore's desk. Cassie thought he might be more comfortable if he sat down but she soon realized that for him, this worked. He liked to pace, apparently, because her eyes had to follow him around the room as he walked and talked and told a story that she couldn't have imagined if she'd have tried. 

"Remember how there was originally a meeting scheduled for Friday between Blackman and the Prime Minister?" Arthur didn't actually expect an answer here as he continued on without stopping, but Cassie nodded anyway. "Then, Andrew told us it was rescheduled for Tuesday but Blackman didn't know that yet?" 

"Who's Andrew?" This was Ginny, who was obviously trying to follow along just as carefully as Cassie was. 

"My dad." 

"Yes. Anyway, it seems that a little matter of some visiting foreign dignitary was not going to deter Blackman from his plan. The meeting was re-re-scheduled for Friday around lunch time. When Andrew heard this, he was very distressed, as you can imagine. We had already planned on someone to be in the office from Monday onward permanently to watch over both the Prime Minister and Andrew, but things had not yet gotten to that point." Cassie was about to say something about how they should have had someone there protecting him no matter what or not let him go into work or something, but Arthur apparently read her mind because he continued. "We had asked Andrew not to go into work on Friday at all because we were unable to have a guard on him for the majority of the day but he said he felt it was vital that he be there. He said that if he was not it would be very suspicious. He thought it may even have convinced Blackman more that something strange was going on in your family which might make you even more vulnerable, so he insisted. We had given him a portkey to use if there was an emergency, but he was a little more nervous about using it than we anticipated and decided that instead of calling for help he would simply interrupt the meeting himself." 

Cassie felt a cold shard of dread pierce her stomach and she subconsciously clutched her robes. "He purposefully caused problems with the documents that Blackman was supposed to be 'discussing' with the Prime Minister so that he would have an excuse to interrupt the meeting immediately after it started. His plan worked very well. He interrupted the meeting with the correct paperwork only minutes after it started and then he was invited to stay by the Prime Minister, who I gather is somewhat of a personal friend." Cassie nodded slowly, not caring about this part. What had happened to her father? "He was very brave, Miss Robinson. After a few minutes, Blackman got anxious and told Andrew he needed to go back to his own office because he was expecting an important phone call. Andrew coolly said he would have the secretary route the phone call to his cell phone." Arthur got a sudden bright gleam in his eye. "He showed me that. It's incredible. It's almost like magic. We should get some, Albus, for the Order." Professor Dumbledore smiled. 

"We'll look into it."

"Blackman tolerated his presence for a few minutes, but got more and more agitated. Andrew pretended not to notice, hoping that the time the Prime Minister had allocated to the meeting would pass without Blackman being alone with him. However, he underestimated, I believe, Blackman's desperation. Blackman simply called the secretary in and told her that Andrew needed to go as he was not feeling well. Andrew felt like he could not cause a scene at that point. He said that he was feeling perfectly fine but that over the next few minutes he actually did get sicker and sicker and within the hour was actually heading home because he was so ill." 

"Blackman made my dad sick?" 

"Well, something like that. We aren't quite sure what he did as Andrew did not know the words he used and could not remember anything in particular happening. We believe he actually cast a very strong suggestibility spell on him, which basically is a spell that allows you to tell someone something and have them believe it, no matter how contrary to actual reason it is. We believe, again we are not sure, that he simply cast that spell, and told him he had the flu. Your father, then, believed that he had the flu and felt like it. The mind can be a very powerful weapon." Cassie nodded, understanding that easily enough.

"When he got home, then, did he notify the guards at the house or anything?" 

"No. We believe that another part of the suggestions given to your father was that nothing interesting happened that day and that the meeting never occurred. So, when he got home, he reported to your mum and all the people who asked that nothing happened and that, in fact, Blackman had never even come into the office that day at all." 

"Oh! That's terrible!" 

"Yes. And I understand that your father was extremely sick all weekend, to the point that your mother was quite concerned. In fact, it was her worry that led to our discovering everything that had happened. Remus and I got there this morning, just planning on going over the plans for tomorrow when our insider would be on the job, but your mother was very insistent that this was not normal flu and that someone had done something to Andrew. So, just on an off chance, we did a Finite Incantatum spell on him, and sure enough, within about five minutes, he felt much better and was able to tell us what actually occurred on Friday." 

"Of course, by then, it was too late. We are fairly positive that the Prime Minister has been placed under the Imperius Curse. We do not have proof yet, but that is just a formality. There would have been nothing to stop Blackman from doing it once Andrew left the office." 

Everyone around the room was very quiet as they tried to absorb this disturbing news. Cassie was the first to speak. "So what happens now?" She thought there was a small possibility that she may even be able to go home now, but as soon as Arthur started speaking again, she realized that she might as well not even ask. 

"Nothing different. We went over the newspapers very carefully with Andrew and as far as he can tell, the Prime Minister did everything over the weekend that he was supposed to do and nothing unusual or strange that he was not supposed to do. We believe they have him under Imperius and may have even commanded him to do whatever it is they want him to do, but it has not yet been necessary for him to do it. Truthfully, we expected this in any circumstance. It would have been almost impossible to keep the curse from being cast in the first place. And, we aren't sure we wanted to." 

"What?! Then what was the point of everything . . ."

"We had hoped to know exactly when the curse was cast and perhaps to even hear what exact commands were given to him so that we could use that information to help us track down the wizards who were in the meeting that you witnessed on Wednesday night. That way -"

Cassie couldn't just sit there anymore. She hopped out of her chair and glared daggers at Arthur. "Are you telling me that you are willing to let a good man be under some terrible hex, curse, whatever, just so you can track down the wizards at that stupid meeting? The only reason they were even meeting was to plan for the curse to be given- it's been done! They're irrelevant now! What difference does it make?" Suddenly it was just too much and Cassie started stalking around the room, very frustrated. She didn't understand what the entire purpose of her being here, of the guard at her parents' house, of her father risking his own life to stop a stupid meeting was if they actually planned on it happening, actually wanted it to happen. "Is what happens in the Wizarding World that much more important than what happens in the Muggle world . . . Because I don't see it that way. I think you are being despicable. I can't believe this. I trusted you. All of you. And you let me down." 

"Miss Robinson." Professor Dumbledore stood up and held up his hand. "Please. You are jumping to some very wrong conclusions. Let us explain. Then if you want to hate us, you can still feel free to do so." 

Cassie looked at the three older wizards standing on the other side of the room and felt very foolish. She really had falsely accused them without letting them finish their side of the story. She flushed. "I'm sorry. I . . . I wasn't being fair. I don't hate you. Any of you. You . . . you've been wonderful." She didn't know what to do now. She felt like crying but knew that really wouldn't help the situation. She stood there for another moment, unsure of whether to beg for forgiveness or whether to just calmly take her seat again. Ginny stood up before Cassie had made up her mind and came over to her. 

"Come on, Cassie. Let's sit down. This sounds like it's very complicated and I think we just saw the very beginning of it." 

"Ginny's right." Remus smiled at the two girls and then at Ron. "It is very complicated. Extremely complicated. We feel like we are trying to organize something of major importance without knowing exactly what it is we are organizing. So, we are feeling our way along just as you are, Cassie, and just as your parents are. We hope, that if we move carefully enough, we can wind up with a finished product worthy of all the effort that has gone into it. However, I'm afraid we can't guarantee this. We just don't know enough, yet. But we're working on it." 

"How come Hermione couldn't come to this meeting? Her mind could follow all this. I'm very confused," Ron admitted sheepishly. Remus laughed out loud, which seemed to dispel the last of the tension in the room that had been caused by Cassie's outburst. 

"If you'll remember, Mr. Weasley, your cover story was that Cassie's parents, your aunt and uncle, joined the Order and sent her here so she would be safe. That is the story we are spreading around among the Professors as well. It makes sense to Professor McGonagall that if there is a problem with Cassie's parents than you would be interested, but Mr. Potter and Miss Granger would not be. We didn't feel that protesting would be helpful."

"Um, Professor Dumbledore, don't other Order members like Snape or McGonagall notice that there are no new Order members?" Ginny had not asked any questions up to this point, but Cassie felt this was a good one. 

"No. Actually, the Order is not just one group of people who all know each other. We have several members who no one knows about and who don't know about anyone else, either. That is for their own defense. I don't want to discuss that any further, but believe me when I say that everyone is accepting the story that we are spreading and there is no reason to think that will change." 

"Oh." Ginny nodded. "I see." Cassie had heard about the Order and knew a little bit about it from conversations she had been privy to. However, she was still not exactly sure about it. She did know that George and Fred were members, as apparently were Professor Dumbledore, Remus, and Arthur, and McGonagall. And Snape. She told herself in very strict terms to ask Ginny more about this later when they would have a chance to talk, but right now she was more interested in what was happening with her father and what exactly she was supposed to be doing here. 

"Now, Miss Robinson, please. Let me try to explain this as briefly and simply as possible. But let me also tell you that we do not know very much and most of what I am telling you is speculation at this point. We feel that what was done to the Prime Minister was done for a specific reason, a reason undoubtedly tied to some event in the wizarding world. What this event is, we do not know. How it impacts Muggles, we do not know. When this event will occur or has occurred, we also do not know. We hope we can find out through spying on the Prime Minister and Blackman. And that has already started, believe me. Things are moving as rapidly as possible. We are also working very hard to determine anything unusual or noteworthy in our world as well. We have strengthened our usual eavesdropping channels and are contacting former informants who may be willing to again sell out their comrades for either immunity or Galleons. However, up to this point, we are looking for what could be a small needle in two very large haystacks, to use a Muggle expression." Cassie smiled wanly but both Ginny and Ron looked confused. "That is to say, for a very small thing in a very large area." 

Professor Dumbledore looked at all three of them again, giving them a moment to absorb the news he had already announced. "The only thing we do know for sure is that there was a meeting where presumably all the important people in this plot were. If we could figure out who they are, we would probably at least have some idea of what sort of mischief they have planned. We do know about Malfoy and Blackman, of course. The Ministry, our Ministry, could be of some assistance to us, pulling in wizards who we suspect may be involved and allowing us to question them, checking alibis, allowing us to check travel records, portkey use, etc. Unfortunately, they are being, um, unhelpful." 

Arthur made a rather strangled choking noise and Remus rolled his eyes. Ron grunted. Cassie knew that none of the people in this room had a great deal of respect for the Ministry of Magic. Although she didn't really know much about the Ministry of Magic, she knew and respected the people in this room and figured they had good reason for their opinions. As she thought about the Ministry, an unpleasant thought came to her. "They're not helpful because they don't believe me. And, they don't believe me because I'm a Muggle." Professor Dumbledore looked down at his desk for a moment and then looked Cassie in the eyes. "I wish I could tell you that you are wrong about that, but no. You are correct. They simply refuse to admit that there could have been any sort of meeting at all, much less that wizards would be plotting against the Muggle government. Unfortunately, there are those in the Ministry who have," he gave her a wry smile, "a rather medieval attitude about Muggles."

Ginny's face showed disgust, but it was Ron who spoke. "Yeah, and it starts at the top with that silly git, Fudge."

"Ron. He is my boss, you know." Arthur's tone was gently chiding.

"But he still is a silly git, Arthur." Remus's expression had hardened and Cassie remembered how much Remus was shunned because he was a werewolf. Muggles were not the only ones the Ministry had a medieval attitude toward. Ditto on the elves. So, she was certainly in good company. 

"But," Professor Dumbledore broke in, "he's still the Minister of Magic and he is disinclined to listen to our concerns. So, I am afraid, Miss Robinson, that at the moment you are our best hope for trying to identify the men. You saw each of them, right?" 

"Yes." Cassie thought back to that night and struggled to find words to express what she had seen. "There were eight men there. I am pretty sure that I saw everyone. There were six of them sitting in a semi-circle, facing the door for some reason. Lucius Malfoy was standing next to the door with everyone looking at him. Blackman was sitting, but he reached the door first. I got the impression . . . that he was in charge of the meeting. There was a seat for him, but no other empty chairs." 

"So we know two of them, but need to identify the six others." Professor Dumbledore pursed his lips slightly. 

Ron spoke up. "They were all Death Eaters, though, right? So can't we just show her pictures of all the known Death Eaters? She's bound to recognize at least some of them. If she saw them there." Cassie thought that was a pretty good idea. She knew that she had seen them all. Of course, they had all seen her, also. And they didn't know her and she didn't know them. And she was happy about that. She was definitely happy about that. 

"Yes, I did think of that. So, I found all the pictures I could of all the Death Eaters we know who are not currently in Azkaban. And also some pictures of people who we suspect may be working on Voldemort's side even though they have not taken the Mark." Professor Dumbledore reached into his desk and pulled out a fairly large stack of photographs. Cassie felt confident that she could find at least some of the mysterious men in that group. "Would you be willing to look at these and see if anyone looks familiar?" 

"Of course. It might take a while, though. That's a lot of pictures." 

"Yes." Professor Dumbledore sighed. "Many too many." Cassie caught her breath. She hadn't thought about that. These were people who they were fighting against. People Harry was fighting against. People who wanted to kill Harry. And Professor Dumbledore. And Remus. And now her. Well, again, she was in good company, if that was any consolation.

Cassie picked up the pile and looked at the first picture. It had to be the wizarding world's version of a police mug shot. A scraggly-looking wizard was standing holding his name and a number, sneering and scowling. The next picture had a sullen-looking wizard who kept looking down at his feet and Cassie had to try to look at his face quickly in the brief moments that he glanced forward. The next photo was of a very large, mean-looking wizard with matted hair and long beard. Cassie was glad that, while the photos moved, they didn't have sound as the wizard appeared to be saying something very rude and crude. Cassie gave a start as she turned that picture face down quickly. The next photo was of a very smug and haughty-looking Lucius Malfoy. "That's Lucius Malfoy. But I don't blame you for making sure I wasn't imagining things. You're putting a lot on the line for me." 

Cassie continued looking through the pictures, most of which were similar to the first few mug shots she had seen although some seemed to be casual snapshots, and some were even newspaper clippings. By the time she had reached the end, she had seen enough sneers, jeers, frowns and glares to last an evening. One wizard had even repeatedly made obscene gestures and Cassie wondered if that meant the same thing in the wizarding world as it did in hers. She imagined it did. But she didn't want to ask. Unfortunately, the only picture she had recognized was of Malfoy. She shook her head dejectedly as she turned the last photo over.

Professor Dumbledore sighed again while the others looked as disappointed as Cassie felt. "Well, thank you, Miss Robinson. I appreciate your time and effort." 

"Can I ask you a question, Professor?"

"Of course." 

"Is there some way that I could prove to the Ministry that I really did see and hear what went on that evening? I know that you have something called Veritaserum, that makes someone tell the truth. Hermione told me it was poisonous for Muggles, but I thought maybe you would know if maybe. . . . there was some way . . ." 

"Well. That's a good question. I have actually heard of Veritaserum used on Muggles in the past, but it has to be done under extremely careful conditions with a modified serum, diluted and with slightly different ingredients, although it is still potent." Cassie felt a small thrill of excitement. Maybe this would work after all. "However, Miss Robinson. I have to tell you that I really do not think it would matter if you were to testify under Veritaserum or not. The modified version is not as powerful and most wizards refuse to believe that it works adequately. I think we just all must accept that until some other proof is found, something that makes sense to Cornelius Fudge, we are not going to have Ministry backing. And that is all right. We don't need to get discouraged." 

"I wish I were an artist. I can see their faces so clearly right now and I'm afraid I may forget eventually. But I just cannot draw at all, especially people." Cassie had always envied her brother Matthew who had a real gift of artistic ability. She had none and had long ago accepted that. But she really wished that today she could just even sketch. 

"Dean Thomas is really good at drawing. Maybe he could do it." Ron spoke up and Ginny nodded in agreement. 

"He is really talented." 

"Do you think we could have him draw them without actually telling him what is going on?" 

"I think so. He's in the D.A. and all. And there's no reason we need to tell him anything other than you saw these people and don't know their names." 

"Okay. I'm willing to try." Professor Dumbledore gave his approval and Ron went out to try to find Dean. While he was gone, the three older wizards talked with Ginny and Cassie casually about their classes. 

"So, Cassie. How are things going here at Hogwarts for you?" 

"Pretty well, I guess. I'm having a pretty good time for the most part. I really liked the Quidditch game yesterday. And the food is good. I just . . . miss being home." 

"That's certainly understandable." Arthur smiled kindly down at her from where he was leaning against the desk. "What about your classes? Did Lupin here give you too bad a time in his class on Friday?" 

"No. That was all right. I . . .managed to avoid being proven a Muggle. That's all I hope for, you know." 

"Actually both of these young ladies were very impressive. Ginny did a fine job holding off Imperius and even Cassie managed to hold me off for several seconds. I was very impressed. It is not an easy thing to do." Remus smiled down at both of them. Ginny was staring determinedly out the window and did not acknowledge Remus' comments. Cassie thanked him politely, feeling very conspicuous. 

"And I have heard rumors about Potions class . . ." Professor Dumbledore looked up from his desk and his blue eyes were sparkling. "It seems you have set Professor Snape on his ear. He is not quite sure what to make of you." 

"Oh, I think he knows what to make of me. He hates me." 

"And he wants to test. . ." but then the office door opened and both Ron and Dean entered and Ginny never was able to complain to Professor Dumbledore about Professor Snape's threat to test the Veritaserum on Cassie. Dean was carrying a large sketch pad and a set of charcoal pencils. 

He really was very skilled and anxious to help. Cassie described each of the wizards she had seen that night as carefully as she could. And when they were done almost an hour later, Dean had produced six very nice sketches of male wizards. Unfortunately, they looked like they could be anyone. There were no distinguishing features on any of the men that really would identify them. Cassie was severely disappointed. But she supposed that the work of police artists was probably much more difficult than just sketching faces. Everyone offered Dean their profuse thanks. He was pleased to be able to help. "Just make sure, please, Mr. Thomas, that you do not tell anyone what happened here tonight. It is very important that the entire meeting and Miss Spencer's witnessing of it remain absolutely secret. It is a matter of life and death. Mr. Thomas, do I have your word?" 

"Of course, Professor. Absolutely. I won't breathe a word to anyone." 

"Thank you again. You may go." Dean left and they all looked at each other. Cassie was very discouraged. She had done her best to describe the wizards, but she had been unable to adequately express the individuality in their features. 

"Professor Dumbledore, do you know Saffron Nightscall's father?" 

"Yes. He works in the Ministry. He is a powerful wizard. He attended school here himself." 

"Well, yesterday Saffron got a howler from him and I know I've heard his voice before. I thought maybe it was in that meeting. I would have never met him otherwise." Dumbledore raised his eyebrows again. 

"I . . ."

"He's a frequent visitor to Fred and George's shop, Cassie. It is most likely you met him there," Arthur interrupted Professor Dumbledore. 

"Oh. I thought that must be it." She had to admit that she was relieved. She didn't want to think about the possibility of Saffron's father working on Voldemort's side. 

A few moments later, they all left Professor Dumbledore's office, heading back to the commons room. Cassie's head was spinning with all the information that she had been told this evening. And her parents' letter was clutched in her hand, thrust deep into the pocket of her robes. She really wanted to have a few moments to read it. But she wanted to be alone. She didn't feel like reading it in front of the entire common room, so after brief exchanges of greetings with Harry and Hermione who had been feeling considerably more relaxed after Ron had told them on his way to find Dean that nothing was seriously wrong with Pia's parents, that her father was just not feeling very well. "We'll have to fill you in on all the details later, maybe tomorrow we can go walking and talk about it," Ron was telling the two of them. Cassie didn't linger in the common room. She made polite hellos to anyone who spoke to her but traveled as quickly as possible to the staircase. 

She found their dorm room empty and she was glad. She didn't want to have to make small talk. Right now, she just wanted one thing. She undressed with quick smooth motions, grateful for the warmth of her flannel nightgown in the cool of the room and managing to ignore completely the winking photograph. She completed her nightly ablutions quickly and slipped into bed. She pulled the curtains closed and reached for the electric torch she had hidden under her mattress. She could theoretically have the lamps lit beside the bed for late-night reading, but as that required a spell, she had simply done the next best thing.

She slowly opened the flap of the envelope and pulled out a thick fold of paper. She unfolded it, seeing her mother's familiar handwriting yet again on the top line of the letter. She bit her lip and forced back her tears. But despite her efforts, they soon flooded over and she had to keep wiping at them as she read. 

My dearest Pia, 

I hope this letter finds you as well as your father and I are. We miss you terribly , of course, but we are sure you are having a good time. Remus and Arthur assure us that you are fitting in just fine and that you are making many friends. Your little brothers miss you also. . . . 


	20. Charmed, I'm Sure

After last chapter, this one is a lot more fun!

Chapter 20

Charmed, I'm Sure

Cassie looked around the classroom, wondering what it would be like. There were about 25 kids in the class and from what she could tell they were from all of the different houses. The door opened and someone she definitely did not want to see walked through. He looked up and smiled at her. She met his gaze but didn't smile back. She knew it was rather petty to hold a grudge but she was still rather perturbed that he had spoken to Draco Malfoy about her. Not that he knew he was endangering her life, but still . . . . Niles approached her, moving quickly toward the empty seat on her left. Cassie grimaced slightly. Considering the difficulty of this class, she really was not sure she was up to the verbal sparring that would undoubtedly occur if he sat next to her. However, Rhiannon, who had been chatting with Ginny a second ago, slid into the seat just a moment before Niles reached it. He stopped and turned, sitting in a seat next to a Hufflepuff girl Cassie did not recognize. He glanced back at her and she forced herself to smile a little in apology. She did not need to make an enemy of this boy. After all, he was going to be in Potions with her for however long she was here. 

Charms. She had asked Ginny what exactly Charms meant, but she hadn't really been able to tell her, well at least in a way that Cassie could understand. "Charms change what things do. Like you can put a laughing charm on someone. Or a silencing charm. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah. But you said that putting the lions on the nails was a charm and that doesn't change what something does - it added something that wasn't there . . ." They hadn't been able to finish the discussion because it was time to meet Hermione, Ron, and Harry for what Cassie thought of as their usual before-breakfast meeting. She had four classes today, two of them were going to be quite tricky. The other two should be fairly easy. Hermione had carefully explained to all of them how they were going to be able to fake the magic in the two where it would be necessary and Cassie had listened and hoped she could continue to be as successful in pretending to be a witch as she had up to this point. She had a feeling that this week was going to be much more difficult than Friday had been. And that thought did not make her very happy. 

Cassie jumped as a head suddenly popped up in the front of the classroom at the teacher's desk. This was obviously the professor as everyone quieted down immediately and looked toward him expectantly. Cassie took her wand out of her sleeve and laid it on the desk next to her. She also pulled a piece of parchment out of her bookbag and laid out her quill and her ink bottle. The professor started lecturing and Cassie dutifully tried to write down what he was saying even though she was sure the spelling was completely wrong. He was very funny to listen to, keeping the class entertained with funny stories to illustrate what he wanted them to do, teasing various class members gently and keeping everyone smiling. Cassie shook her head as the assignment was finalized. This was going to be completely impossible. 

She looked over the instructions carefully and heard the professor move out from behind his desk, preparing to come help them on a one-to-one basis. She looked up to where she thought he would be standing but didn't see anything. She looked around but then movement near the floor caught her eye. The professor was the shortest thing she had seen in the school, excluding the house elves. Even the first year students were taller than he was. She blinked in surprise and heard a distinct giggle from Ginny who had watched all this. She flashed Ginny a smile. "I never cease to be surprised around here." 

"He's a great teacher, though. And he loves Christmas. I'm sure that's why we're doing this today. Around Christmas we do all sorts of fun things like this. He feels it is his duty to get us in the Christmas spirit." 

Cassie smiled. Christmas. She hoped she was back home by then. She didn't relish the idea of spending it in some magically hidden house by herself. That did not sound fun at all. Well, she told herself, no use worrying about that now. Certainly they would have everything worked out by then, wouldn't they? The professor was helping the first few students and telling everyone else what they needed to do, also. 

"Begin first by setting up your storm cloud and your cold field. That shouldn't be too tricky for you as we've all made lightning before and this is actually easier." Yeah. Right. They were supposed to make it snow. On their desks. And not just a few flakes either. A big snowstorm. Cassie picked up her wand and watched Ginny, who was sitting on her right. Ginny moved her wand quickly in a sort of circular pattern, almost like she was making a tornado. She said the words the Professor had told them would turn this energy into clouds. Cassie blinked as some wisps of what could only be clouds came out of the end of Ginny's wand and started to clump together. Cassie tightened her grip and started. No use procrastinating. 

As Cassie moved her own wand in a circular pattern, she voiced the same charm as Ginny. A moment or two later, small wisps of clouds began to appear above her own desk. Ginny glanced over at Cassie's desk and grinned. She then stood up, pointed her wand at the small gathering of clouds and repeated another charm. The clouds began to turn darker and there was a definite drop in temperature around Ginny's desk. Ginny grimaced. This charm apparently took a great deal of concentration and effort. She was glad Ginny didn't have to do all the work for her, too. 

Cassie followed Ginny's lead as she too stood and pointed her wand at her white fluffy clouds. She repeated the charm and watched in satisfied amazement as her clouds also began to darken and the temperature around her desk began to drop. Ginny again grinned at Cassie and gave her the thumbs up while Rhiannon gave Cassie a smile and told her she was really good at charms. Cassie blushed and thanked her and then turned back to her storm. She needed to really concentrate here or she was bound to make some stupid mistake. 

She watched with pleasure as the first few snow flakes floated gently to the surface of her desk, noticing Ginny's back arch a little as if she had been suddenly pushed from behind. Ginny's face turned red as she half turned toward Cassie and whispered into the space between the two girls, "Stop it, Harry." Cassie's eyes grew wide as she realized what had just happened. He was taking advantage of his invisible state and had probably slapped his girlfriend's butt. Cassie started to giggle but then silenced herself. This was really not a good time for them to be goofing around. It was hard trying to do things in tandem with Harry, especially since she couldn't see him. He had assured her that he would follow her lead but Cassie thought that if he was paying attention to the way Ginny's robe moved when she stretched, he was probably not putting adequate effort into their storm. She looked around to see if anyone had noticed anything strange going on. 

To Cassie's relief, the students were all busy with their individual storms. Rhiannon was working to keep the temperature low enough to change her sleet into definite snow. Further down the row, a Hufflepuff boy let out a minor curse as his storm produced a smattering of lightening and he had to duck from an errant lightening bolt. A Ravenclaw girl next to him was giggling as she too ducked. Across the room, a girl already had several inches of snow on her desk and Professor Flitwick was congratulating her. He slowly made his way toward Ginny and Cassie. By the time he reached them, both girls had several inches of snow on their desks.

"Oh, very good indeed, Miss Weasley. And, yes, Miss Spencer. I had wondered if you were enough advanced in your training to handle this. You obviously are. It must run in the family. I still consider Fred and George Weasley among my best students ever. Oh, yes, yes, I do. Their swamp was excellent. Absolutely excellent. Well, right then. Smashing. Carry on."

Cassie smiled and breathed a sigh of relief as he moved on to Rhiannon, whose sleet had turned to a definite rain. As he gave her pointers, Cassie turned to Ginny. "George and Fred made a swamp? Where?" Ginny gave a quick grin and told Cassie she would explain later. 

"Most of you are ready to start making your snowballs. You've all done this, I know. Remember the snowball fight last year?" There were a lot of laughs around the room as the students started on the next part of the assignment. Rhiannon had finally managed to get snow but she didn't have enough yet to start actually making the snowballs. Cassie watched what Ginny did. She formed a small ball with her hands and then proceeded to roll it around in the snow using her wand. That didn't look too hard. However, Cassie and Harry had a harder time. The angle Harry was working from made it awkward for him to move the snowball around, Cassie guessed, because it wasn't tracking very well to the tip of her wand. 

Finally she sat down and bent her head down to the desk like she was trying to rest. "Look, why don't you be in charge this time and I'll follow your lead, okay?" 

"Yeah. Good idea." His voice was so low that Cassie was positive no one else could hear it. She stood up and stretched, like that moment's rest had given her a bit more energy. She picked up her wand and waited for the first snowball to start moving. It did and she was easily able to follow it around the desk with the tip of her wand. Finally, it moved to the side and Cassie made another one. It took about 30 minutes or so before all three of them were done. 

Suddenly the medium one moved onto the large one and Cassie had to move her wand quickly to track it. "Locomotor snowball" she said fairly loudly as it floated across her desk. 

"Sorry." His voice was low in her ear. 

"That's all right." She walked a few minutes later with some hesitation up to Professor Flitwick's desk. He had said that the rest of the things they needed were on his desk and Ginny had asked her to get some for all three of them. Cassie picked up the items carefully, hoping they weren't enchanted or anything. They just laid in her hands passively, though, and she walked with a lighter step back to her desk. She handed one set to Rhiannon (who was moving quickly to catch up with them) and the other to Ginny. She kept her own set, moving carefully around her desk to sit back down. Not carefully enough, though, because she stepped right on Harry's foot and heard a muffled grunt. She coughed quickly to cover up the noise and flushed as she slid into her chair. 

She smiled as she fitted the tiny twigs, pieces of coal, and the extremely adorable little carrot onto her snowman. This was fun. The kids she normally went to school with would die of envy if they could see that for her class work today she was making a snowman. They were probably sweating hard over some nasty math problem right about now. She sat back in her chair and admired her artwork. It looked really nice. And the gentle flakes of snow that were still falling onto her desk made it look like a movie or something. She realized with sudden clarity how the ice-cream shop in Diagon Alley had done their Christmas window display and thought that she would make sure to mention to George that she had done this. Well, okay. Harry had actually done the work. But George would still get a kick out of it. 

"All right." The professor was back at his desk now, probably standing on a stool or something since his head was visible behind the desk. "How many of you have ever used the charm "Ennervate" before and actually had it work?" A few students raised their hands, including Ginny. "How many when it wasn't to nullify a stupefy spell?" A few students put down their hands but Ginny's stayed up. "All right, Miss Weasley. When did you use it last and why?" 

"Friday night. Uh, I animated some decals on my roommates' fingertips for the Quidditch game. It worked really well." 

"Very good. Very good. Could you tell the class how it works? It can be a rather tricky spell."

Ginny nervously stood up and told about how to get the best results with it. Cassie listened with interest. To her, it had looked like Ginny had just waved her wand and said the word but she was explaining about how you had to funnel energy into what you were trying to animate, etc. It sounded exhausting. Rhiannon was shaking her head and Cassie glanced over at her. 

"This will never work. The poor thing is barely holding on as it is." Her snowman did look pretty bad. Its head was not quite large enough for its body and one arm kept falling off. Cassie smiled in a sympathetic manner. She felt guilty because of course a 7th year wizard (and a mighty powerful one at that) had done her work so it wasn't really fair for Rhiannon to compare herself to his work. But she couldn't say anything so she just glanced around at the other students' wondering if hers and Ginny's were the most normal looking. Okay. A foot-tall snowman on your school desk which you had just made from snow you had caused to fall would never be completely normal. Especially when you were going to bring him to life in a few minutes. But, no. There were many other students who had very nice looking snowmen. Someone had really gotten a little compulsive and was busily knitting it a cap. Where the yarn and knitting needles had come from Cassie didn't know. It was obviously magic. Someone else had wrapped a paper scarf around the neck of theirs and was busy making some paper mittens to attach to the end of their twigs. Cassie just smiled to herself as she watched the various students get involved in making their snowman its own little person. 

"I think I'm going to name mine." Ginny said. "It may only live for an hour, but it deserves a name."

"How about Frosty?" Cassie suggested and heard Harry's quiet laugh. She didn't worry about being overheard at this point. The classroom was very noisy and no one would have heard even if he'd have laughed loudly. 

"Um, no. I think I'll name him . . . Harry." 

"What?" Cassie smiled broadly as she heard Harry make some quiet exclamation under his cloak. 

"Ennervate, Harry!" The snowman moved an arm and Cassie couldn't help it, she gasped and backed up a step. 

"It's okay, Pia. He's very nice." 

Ginny tried again because after that first movement, there had been no other. "Ennervate, Harry!" She waved her wand a little longer this time, circling the snowman with it. It turned its head and moved its arms, and then scooted forward on the desk. Cassie stared in amazement at the little figure. It was somehow a lot more impressive than the fingernail trick even though it was the same spell. She took a fortifying breath and turned to her own snowman. 

"I'm not sure I can do this." 

"Oh, of course you can. Take all the time you need." The professor had come behind her to watch. "Don't worry. Let me watch and see if you need some pointers." 

Cassie was suddenly panicked. She had no idea if this was even going to work and with Professor Flitwick watching there was very little room for error. She hoped that he wouldn't notice if the timing wasn't exactly right. She felt an invisible hand on her arm and knew that Harry was strengthening her. "All right, here goes. 1, 2, 3 . . . Ennervate, Snowman!" She waved her wand carefully around the entire figure, trying to duplicate Ginny's movements. Nothing happened, though. Her snowman just sat there, looking cute, but definitely not like Ginny's who was doing a series of cartwheels as Ginny guided it with her wand. The hand returned to her arm and she took another deep breath. "I'm going to do this. I can do this." She tried once again. She didn't know why Harry hadn't done it the first time. Maybe she hadn't done it right. She thought again about what Ginny had done and copied it as well as she could. This time, when she said the words, her snowman moved, stretched his arms above his head, and like Ginny's scooted more to the middle of the desk. Cassie laughed out loud. 

"Very good, Miss Spencer. Very good. I'm impressed." The professor moved on to another student and Cassie let out her breath. 

"Thanks, Harry." She muttered quietly and then felt the hand back on her arm, squeezing a "You're welcome." 

Ginny suggested a snowball fight between the three of their snowmen and even though Rhiannon's was by far the underdog since the one arm had fallen off completely early on and refused to have it stuck back on, hers managed to hold her own. There was really only one incident that could have gotten them into any trouble and fortunately the chaos was so widespread that no one noticed. Ginny's snowman, Harry, threw a snowball toward Cassie's still-unnamed creature but it went wildly astray and hit the real Harry, who was still invisible. So the snowball splattered in mid-air against what looked like nothing. Ginny moved quickly and brushed the small bit of snow off his cloak and after a few frantic moments of looking around, they both relaxed. No one, not even Rhiannon, had noticed. They all felt sad when Professor Flitwick announced it was time to clean up and some of the students even asked if they could take theirs back to their room. 

Cassie was tempted until Ginny reminded her that she would have to keep the cold spell on it constantly and that might be a little difficult. Ginny felt just as sad, though, Cassie could tell to leave "little Harry" to the mercy of the sudden heat that flooded through the room as the cold spells were simultaneously removed. Niles finished cleaning up his desk and then strolled over to Cassie. "How'd you do?" 

"Good. I got it to move and we had a little snowball fight." 

"That sounds fun. I should have brought mine over."

"Yeah. That would have been fun." Cassie was feeling a lot more magnanimous now toward the Slytherin boy because she was feeling pretty relaxed. After all, the next 2-3 hours would be pretty easy and she was going to enjoy it before the hard class in the afternoon. And it wasn't his fault that Malfoy decided to flirt with her. He probably would have noticed her eventually anyway - the school was small enough and her exploits in that first potions class had given her her 15 minutes of fame. So, there was no use blaming him. 

As the students filed out of the class , Ginny and Cassie made sure Harry wouldn't be bumped by any unsuspecting students. Ginny led the way, with Harry right behind her and Cassie followed. As they exited the classroom, Cassie made sure to walk slowly enough to momentarily hold up the other students until Ginny and Harry were safely in the hallway and out of the way of the throng. The three ducked down a less-used corridor where, halfway down, there was a boys' toilet. The door opened and then shut and, a few minutes later, Harry came strolling out carrying his bookbag. He grinned at the girls. "That was great, Harry. Thanks so much."

"Hey, you're welcome. That was really fun. We don't do anything that exciting in our class. We're trying to get ready for our stupid N.E.W.T.s, though. I suppose we won't be tested on anything as lighthearted as animated snowmen. . . ." 

"What are your stupid N.E.W.T.s?" 

"Wizard tests. Big nasty wizard tests." 

"Yeah. And I get to look forward to them next year. Ugh." 

"At least that's one thing I don't have to worry about." They all laughed. Cassie, Ginny, and Harry made their way to the entry hall where they found Ron pacing impatiently back and forth as students hurried to and fro around him, a few scowling as he blocked their path. He didn't seem to notice. He gave a loud sigh of relief as they came into the entry. "Where were you? We're going to have to hurry or we'll be late for Hagrid's class. I'd hate to miss a moment of the fun." Cassie thought he sounded like he was being sarcastic, but she couldn't really tell for sure. She didn't ask, though. She personally was really looking forward to the Care of Magical Creatures class. Once the four were outside, the three filled Ron in on how Charms class had gone. He had a good laugh at the described snowmen and the snowball fight. 

As they trudged through the snow toward Hagrid's hut, Cassie got more and more excited. Thoughts of the unicorns and how gentle and knowledgeable Hagrid had been last June made her anxious to see what he would have this time. "I'm really looking forward to this class." The other three gave her surprised looks. 

Ron's was particularly incredulous. "Why?" 

"Well, for one thing, it's a green . . . which means I don't have to worry about doing any magic. But mainly because he has such beautiful, magical animals." 

"Oh yeah. Beautiful all right. Like Norbert; the little dragon Hagrid tried to raise like a puppy dog. What a nice little thing he was . . . until he bit me."

Cassie looked at him in shock. "He tried to raise a dragon?" 

Ginny jumped into the conversation. "Uh, Pia. Hagrid really likes . . . um, interesting animals. Ones that most people would consider frightening. In fact, we're supposed to have a new animal today. I'm wondering what cute and cuddly name he'll give it. He once had a three-headed dog he called Fluffy." 

Cassie stopped dead in her tracks, which made Harry run into her. "He had a three-headed dog? Is that possible?" 

"I guess so," Harry answered, "because he had one. And it was nasty." 

By the time they arrived at Hagrid's, they were almost late and the other students were already there. Cassie didn't recognize anyone in the small group of about 7 other students. Hagrid was out front greeting the students, who, Cassie was interested to note, all looked as apprehensive as Ron did. It was only at that moment that Cassie realized she might be in serious trouble. Hagrid had met her and she had been introduced as Cassie Robinson. She tried to grab Harry quickly to remind him but it was too late, they were standing in the group of the other students and there was no chance to catch Hagrid for a private work before he spoke to them. His loud voice suddenly boomed an affectionate greeting. "Hello Harry, Ginny, Ron. How are you today? And you must be the cousin, Pia Spencer. Nice to meet you. I'm Rubeus Hagrid, Groundskeeper and Professor here are Hogwarts." He winked and Cassie knew that he had obviously been warned in advance. 

"Hello, Hagrid. Nice to meet you." Cassie held out her hand which was promptly engulfed in his huge one. She had never seen anyone as large as he was and she thought with a small start that she had now seen what had to be undoubtedly the tallest and the shortest professors in the school.

"All right class. Gather round, gather round. I'm sure you're all as excited as I am to meet our new magical creature today. And let me tell you, she's excited too. I chained her down, just to be on the safe side, y'know. She's a little nervous with it being a new class and all. Once she gets used to y'all, she'll settle right in. She's jes' as pretty as can be." The entire class followed Hagrid around his hut to the area of the paddock. Cassie walked right behind him but she noticed the others were falling more and more behind. Hagrid noticed, too.

"There's nuttin' to be 'fraid of, honest. Fer one thing, she's jes' ta baby, really, just a little one. Come on class, meet Shimmy." He stood aside and the class held his breath as they looked toward the middle of the paddock. It was a nondescript looking bundle at first, could have been anything, including an ugly big dog. Then it lifted its big head and looked up at them. And it didn't look like a baby, or nervous, and definitely not pretty. Cassie was staring at what had to be the ugliest thing she had ever laid eyes on. 

Cassie let out an involuntary gasp. "What the hell is that thing?" She flushed in embarrassment, her hands clapped over her mouth. She rarely cussed but she felt like in this case, it was appropriate. 

The entire class laughed sort of morbidly as they stared at the ugliest, most dangerous-looking animal she had ever seen in her life. The animal had a lion's head, goat's body and dragon's tail. It stood quietly staring at the cowering students with a vicious expression. 

"It's a chimera. They're real rare . . I's lucky to be able to trade some of the thestral babies for this. Took me a lot of floo powder, let me tell ya' to seal the deal. Like I said, she's a little frightened now but she'll settle right in." 

Harry's eyes were huge in his face and Ginny's weren't much better. Ron, on the other hand, had grabbed a book out of his bag and was flipping wildly through the pages. " They're a 5-X classification, Hagrid! A 5-X. See, right here?" And he was waving his book madly in front of Hagrid's shoulder. He was ignored. 

"Aw, what's a book know, tha' I don't? Shimmy's a good chimera. No worries about her. Let me tell ya." 

He proceeded to spend the next half hour talking about all the magical things chimeras could do. "They're really jes' misunderstood. Y' just need to be gentle and treat 'em with respec'. Anyone want to pet Shimmy?" Not surprisingly, there were no takers. Class ended early, apparently, as no one was willing to go into the paddock with the creature but Hagrid and no amount of coaxing would change the students' minds. Cassie spent most of the time hanging as far back from the chimaera as possible, listening with only half an ear as he discussed their diet, both in the wild and in captivity. 

They actually did sound like sort of interesting creatures in theory (if not in living color) but she was relieved when the class ended and they could hurry back up to the castle. By then, all of the students had wet feet and were cold. Cassie's robes were wet from the knee down and her shoes were making squelching noises as she climbed the steps into the entry hall. "I think I'd better go change. There's no way I want to go to . . ." The rest of the small group they had crossed the grounds with were standing stock still staring at the ground. Cassie pushed forward, hearing her squelching shoes as she stepped onto the flagstone floor to see what everyone was looking at. Everyone's attention was focused on what had to be the second ugliest creature Cassie had seen today. It was sitting there mewling at the students. "That's a really ugly . . ."

"Shut it, Pia." Ron's voice was brisk. Cassie shut it. 

One of the other students moaned loudly as she too stared at the mangy-looking thing. "Oh, no! I can't believe it! It's Mrs. Norris! We're in big trouble now!" 


	21. Filch

Chapter 21

Filch

Harry and Ginny moved quickly now, pushing Cassie back onto a mat by the door where all three of them joined her. "Wipe your feet, quickly!" Harry was busy casting various drying and cleaning spells on the floor where their wet robes and shoes had left muddy puddles. The other students were busy, too, trying to get the worst of the mess cleaned up. Cassie couldn't understand what was going on but she didn't ask as everyone seemed fairly close to panic. Suddenly she heard a hoarse voice echoing through the hall. 

"Mrs. Norris, my sweet. You've caught some of the messy little brats!" A very unpleasant looking man had entered the hall and was moving toward them with a nasty smirk on his face. "How many times have I told you to wipe your feet when you come in from the grounds? Hundreds! But no, no! Doesn't bother you if you make a mess! Why should it? You're not the one who has to clean it up! But we'll see about that. I could really use some helpers tonight. I think some detentions are in order, here." By then, he had reached them and was scowling at everyone of them, trying to decide who had made the mess. The four of them were dripping but were standing on a mat. One other student had managed to get herself cleaned up enough that the man didn't pay attention to her. Two of the students though, had panicked, and had not gotten enough cleaned up. The man's black eyes honed in on their wet feet and the slowly spreading puddles of melted snow around them. "You two! My office! Now!" 

"But, Mr. Filch, it's snowy outside and we . . ."

"I don't want to hear any excuses from you. I'll report you and your detentions will be doubled . . ." He stormed off and the students followed him, shoulders slumped. 

"That was a close one," said Harry as they stepped off the mat. "Good work, Gin. If it had been me making the puddles, we all would have gotten it. He hates me." 

"He has no love for Weasleys, either, Harry!" Ron laughed. "But that's okay, cause I hate him back. Still remember how terrible he was to me when I had to polish all the silver in the school's trophy room. And remember how he was with Umbridge? Yuck! Wish he had been the one to go out with the Centaurs. Then we wouldn't have to put up with him anymore." 

"Who is he?" Cassie knew she hadn't ever seen him before. 

"That's Filch. He's the nasty old squib caretaker and he hates us 'cause we can do magic and he can't."

"What's a squib?" She had heard the word before but couldn't figure out what it meant. 

Harry explained quickly. "Someone born of two wizard parents who can't do magic. They're rare. He tried to take a Kwik-spell course once to learn how, but it must not have worked because he's never done any magic in his life." 

Cassie didn't say anything as the laughing group crossed the hall. "Why do you hate him?" 

"What?" Ron looked at her funny, like she was obviously off balance. "Isn't that obvious? He's a mean, obnoxious git who hates all the students and tries to make our lives miserable." 

"But don't you think that he's just reacting to . . ."

"Oh, please, Pia. Don't start again. Not everyone is just misguided. You sound like Hermione." 

"I'll take that as a compliment." Cassie didn't say anything else. For one thing, they had entered the Great Hall which was definitely not the place for a philosophical discussion. She was a little perturbed, though. The man was definitely unpleasant, but she wasn't sure that she blamed him for it. It would be terrible to work at a wizarding school and not be able to use magic at all. Especially if every student felt it was their personal responsibility to make your life miserable. And she had seen first hand what kind of messes the students left in classrooms and things. It would be a lot of work cleaning up after them, even if you did have house elves to help you with some of it. 

She said the word under her breath a couple of times. "Squib. Squib." It even sounded unpleasant. So a squib was a person from a wizard family who couldn't do magic. Cassie thought that was very sad. She tried to imagine being the lone non-magic person in an otherwise magical family. Especially if everyone made fun of you your entire life for something you had no control over at all. She looked around at the smiling people in the hall, trying to shake off her bad mood. It shouldn't matter to her what that man Filch thought or felt. She was unlikely to ever see him again and it wasn't like she could change anything. Ron had said that she just didn't know how slimy the man actually was and that if she ever had to do detention with him and could see the pleasure he got from making the students' lives miserable, she wouldn't feel sorry for him - or his mangy cat. Cassie wasn't sure about that. After all, he was probably the person in the castle who was actually most like herself. She too was a non-magic person in a magical world. The only difference between them, really, was that everyone knew about him. No one knew about her. She imagined if people did, they would make fun of her, too. 

It was true that a few people knew and didn't seem to mind very much, but she imagined they were the exceptions to a pretty strict rule. Muggles were not to be liked or trusted. No, actually that wasn't quite right. Non-magic people were not to be liked or trusted. And in fact, even if you could do magic you still couldn't be liked or trusted by most wizards if you happened to come from Muggles. Even Rhiannon felt the results of that distrust and she was a generation away from her mother's family of Muggles and her dad was pure-blood.

Cassie picked at her food, having very little appetite, as her mind seemed to go over and over again all the reasons wizards could legitimately hate you. They hated Remus. And he was a pure-blood, and magical. But he was a werewolf, of course. And Harry had said that people didn't trust Hagrid because he was part giant. And elves, of course, seemed to be fair game for abuse of all sorts. 

"Is Pia all right?" Hermione asked as she slid into the seat next to Ron. "She looks a little upset."

"We had a run-in with Filch a few minutes ago." Harry glanced out into the hall, indicating where they had seen him. 

"Oh, no! Did you get detention? What are we going to do?" Hermione sounded fairly panicked which made Cassie wonder again what exactly happened to you in detention. They certainly seemed worried about it. 

"No, we managed to get cleaned up before he came down. He did get a couple of the . . ." Harry continued, gesturing with a forkful of mashed potatoes toward the Hufflepuff table where the two unlucky students who had gotten detention were sitting. 

"Well, then what's she upset about?" Hermione inquired and Cassie felt a small whisper of irritation that even Hermione sometimes acted like she was too stupid to answer questions on her own and insisted on having others translate. 

"I feel bad for him, okay? Is that so completely out of the realm of normal around here that no one can even understand it?" Cassie wished a second later that she could take it back. She felt not only her four friends' eyes on her but also some of the other Gryffindors' sitting nearby. "Sorry. I'm not hungry. I think I'll go upstairs and change my shoes." She stood up and started toward the wide doors but then felt a restraining hand on her arm. Ginny looked up at her. 

"Sorry, Pia. I'll come with you, okay? We've got Defense in just a few minutes anyway. Besides, Malfoy just left a few minutes ago. He might be waiting for you. I don't want you to run into him alone." Cassie was tempted to pull her arm out of Ginny's light grasp and make a run for it. She hated feeling like she had to be babysat all the time and she really wanted to be alone for a few minutes. But the thought of Malfoy changed her mind. She really would not fancy running him into the hall if she was alone. She would be completely defenseless. She blew her breath out in an aggravated huff. 

"All right. I'll wait for you." Ginny hurriedly ate the rest of her lunch while Cassie visited with Neville for a few minutes, still feeling like everyone in the entire Great Hall was staring at her and thinking to themselves that she was acting strange and very non-witch-like But she couldn't get that man's face out of her mind. So she didn't care what everyone else thought. He couldn't be as bad as they said. 

"You know," Ginny said a few minutes later as they climbed the long staircases up to the common room, "Filch hated Fred and George." Cassie thought about that for a few minutes without saying anything. She could well imagine that they made his life basically a living nightmare. Even from the few times she had heard their names mentioned everyone agreed they had been hooligans. So, with their love of practical jokes, she could imagine that Filch would have had a rough time keeping up with them. 

"That does make me feel a little less sympathetic toward him, but only a little, Ginny. They probably really deserved his hatred."

"I can't argue with that. They did work really hard to aggravate him." They climbed the rest of the stairs in silence, Cassie thinking over the last 30 minutes and wondering if she was over-reacting. Maybe he really was as bad as everyone thought. Maybe she was just having a bad day and assigning all her feelings of discontent to him. After all, he didn't have to work here, did he? But then, she hadn't really had a bad day. Charms had actually been fun and even though Hagrid's creature had been scary, the class itself had been almost enjoyable. So that couldn't be it. Well, she needed to concentrate on something besides the strange caretaker of Hogwarts castle. She was going to have quite a difficult afternoon and if she didn't pull herself together, she wouldn't manage it. 

"Ginny . . . I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so grouchy." 

Ginny looked over at her and smiled. "Pia, don't worry about it. I figure with everything you're going through right now you're entitled to a grouchy day or two. I have them and so does Harry. In fact, if you'll just do me a favor and try really hard not to have your grouchy days on the same day he does, I would appreciate it. It's all I can do to survive his." They both laughed at that and the happy glow she felt lasted all the way to the door of the Defense classroom. 

Cassie took a deep breath as they stopped outside Remus' room. She had her essay done and she knew he would treat her well, but she was still a little nervous. She hoped that he wasn't going to curse them all again. That had been a little strange. "Come on. It'll be fine." Ginny opened the door and ushered her into the classroom. They sat down in the same places they had last time they were here. 

"How come we have Defense again so soon, Ginny?" It had only occurred to Cassie right this minute how often it was on her schedule. Ginny gave her a raised eyebrow in response. 

"You're kidding, right? Why do you think?" 

Cassie felt a slow flush creep up her cheeks. "Oh. That was kind of a stupid question, wasn't it?" They're at war, idiot, Cassie told herself. And you should be grateful that she has it so you can maybe pick up some pointers. It's not just them at war - you're involved, too. Not that you can learn any magic pointers, but defense is defense. It can't hurt. Ginny just smiled at her. 

"This is nothing. Harry has it five days a week - private lessons with Remus on days when he doesn't have class -- and then Snape has him for an hour or two also every week to work on some more complicated stuff. That's always guaranteed to plaster a smile on his face, let me tell you." 

"Really? What sort of things do they teach him? I thought he was pretty impressive already." 

"He is. He knows a lot. But I think they just work on strengthening his curses and his protection spells. I don't really know. He doesn't talk about it much." Cassie nodded. 

Remus walked into the classroom and the loud buzzing among the students slowly died down as conversations ceased and eyes turned toward the front. He smiled at the class and then commenced.

"Last time we discussed and practiced fighting off the Imperius Curse. I asked each of you to write an essay about your experience while you were under the control of it. Please hand your essays forward." There was a rustling and scuffling of parchment as they were handed forward and Remus walked along the front collecting the bundles at each row. "I'll have these graded for you by the next class. Did anyone have any comments or questions?" Cassie had a lot of questions, but she couldn't really ask them. No one else raised their hand, though, and Remus moved on to what was apparently the subject of today's lesson. 

"Pain." That was all he said and everyone in the classroom stiffened. "The thought of pain can be terrifying in and of itself." He looked around the room, meeting some students' eyes. "The second unforgiveable curse we are going to learn about is the Cruciatus curse - it inflicts agonizing pain. Has anyone here ever been under the Cruciatus curse?" No one raised their hand. Cassie's stomach was clenching and unclenching in nervousness. This was terrible. Did they have to talk about this? She really hoped no one did raise their hand. She wasn't sure she would be able to ever look at them again, just knowing what sort of agony they would have gone through. She knew she hoped she never had to feel that herself. Remus spoke again. "Have you ever seen anyone under the curse?" This time, a few students raised their hands, including Ginny, and Cassie slowly put her hand up in the air. She just hoped Remus didn't ask when because she didn't want to mention about the battle in June. 

"So, what were you thinking at the time and what have you thought about it since?" That was sort of a strange question, Cassie thought. What was she supposed to think? It was horrible - worse than anyone could possibly imagine if they'd never seen it themselves. 

One of the students in the back of the class apparently was thinking along the same lines. "It's terrible. They just scream and scream and scream." 

"That's right. It is terrible to see and terrible to hear. And terrible to feel. But, despite that . . . You can live through it. Cruciatus does not kill you. It can wear you out and . . ."

"It can make you wish you were dead." There was laughter all around, although it was kind of nervous laughter. 

Remus smiled at the student who had said that. "Well, assuming that you really do want to live through it, that's what we are talking about today. Dealing with the pain. If you have some basic strategies, it can help . . ."

"What do you mean strategies? How can there be a strategy? You scream until they take the curse off and then you pray no one touches you for a while or you might start screaming again." It sounded like whoever said that had had some personal experience. Maybe they were just too embarrassed to admit it in front of the class. 

"You can have strategies. You really can. Has anyone ever heard of something called Lamaze? It's a strategy Muggle women use to get through the pain of childbirth." Cassie was about to raise her hand because her friend's mother had used it for her last baby and had talked about it all the time. Cassie personally thought she liked the idea of drugs, lots and lots of drugs, but she had listened politely. Before she could actually stick her hand in the air, though, Ginny bumped her and shook her head almost imperceptibly. Cassie left her hand on the table and just wondered if anyone else had ever heard of it. No one had, apparently. Or at least no one admitted it. "Okay. Well, it's a method of accepting the pain and breathing through it, picturing yourself somewhere else." 

The next half hour or so was spent with each student trying to practice breathing techniques and finding a place where they could go in their head to retreat from the pain. Cassie was smiling inside although she worked hard at keeping her face passive because this sounded so much like that friend's mother that if she closed her eyes she could imagine she was back in their living room, listening to her tell them about her latest birthing class. Remus was encouraging and supportive. A few of the students started crying as they thought about people they knew who had once had the curse on them and he was willing to sit with them until they felt a little better. 

Finally, everybody had a chance to demonstrate their own breathing style and talk about where they would go in their mind if they had to focus on surviving through the Cruciatus Curse. When it was her turn, she was extremely nervous. She didn't want to blow her cover by saying something totally out of the norm. But at the same time, she wanted to be honest. For Remus. "I would go home. I'm safe there. My mum. She would take care of me." Remus smiled kindly at her as she went back to her desk. Ginny was looking pretty shaky by now and it was her turn. 

"I would go home, too. To the Burrow. All my brothers would be there. They would help me to live through it. And Harry would be there, too." When all the students, in various degrees of upset, were all sitting back at their desks, Remus asked for volunteers. 

"I can't . . . I wouldn't want to actually cast Cruciatus on any of you. But if you would be willing, I could cast a minor pain spell on you and you can practice what we learned today. Is anyone willing to try it?" Everyone sat perfectly still for a long moment. Cassie looked around and noticed that everyone was fidgeting in their seats. She felt bad for Remus, although he looked extremely unperturbed. "No one is willing? Well, that's . . ." 

"I'll let you cast it on me." A Ravenclaw girl from the other side of the room raised her arm. Everyone in the class looked at her. 

"Okay. Brave girl, Eloise. Now if you need to scream, you can but it shouldn't be that bad. Just focus on accepting the pain and letting it flow through you. Breathe like we practiced. Think about your safe place. Are you ready?" There was a tense nod and Remus lowered his wand onto her but he immediately picked it up again. "All right. Eloise. How are you feeling right now?"

"Did you do it?"

"No. Tell me how you are feeling?"

"I'm scared. I'm wondering if I'm insane for volunteering for this. I want you to get it over with." 

He smiled. "You're all tense. You're not going to accept the pain - you're fighting it. If I were to just touch you, with my hand, you'd probably scream. You're expecting it to hurt and you're preparing yourself to hurt. You want to try to float with the pain, just let it flow around you." The girl looked disbelieving. 

"I don't understand this at all." Remus patiently explained again about how expecting the pain and anticipating it can make it worse. He talked about a physical response that happens when you know something is going to hurt. The girl nodded again. "Okay. I think I understand that."

"Are you still willing?" She nodded. 

"Yes. I'm trying to relax now, not anticipate it, just accept it." 

"Good. Here goes." He said the spell and the girl tensed, sucking in her breath. She didn't scream, for which Cassie was extremely grateful. She thought everyone in the class might just shatter if the girl screamed. After a moment that seemed like an hour, Remus raised his wand. "Well?" 

"It hurt. A lot. But I tried really hard to leave the room and go to my grandma's house." Remus nodded as she continued. "I tried to breathe through it and it really did help. I tried to relax my muscles instead of tightening them up." 

"You did very well. I'm very proud of you, Eloise. I've got a pain reliever potion if you think you need it." He indicated a bright blue vial that was in the front of the room. 

"No, I'm all right, I think." 

He smiled gently. "If you change your mind, just let me know. You were a wonderful test subject. Is anyone else willing to try?" There were a few hands that went up this time and the rest of the class period was spent with Remus working with a few students as he put some sort of pain spell on them and worked them through their terror and pain. At the end of the class, despite their initial resistance to the idea, the students were saying that they really had learned a lot and felt that if someone were to cast Cruciatus on them, they could handle it. Remus assigned them another essay about the breathing techniques they had learned and each one of them was to firm up their plan for dealing with pain when they encountered it. Cassie and Ginny didn't say anything as they exited the classroom. 

Finally, Ginny said something. "That was an incredible class. I thought about volunteering, but I couldn't. I guess I was too frightened." They walked in silence for a few more minutes. "Harry's had Cruciatus on him. Lots of times. I asked him once . . . how it was." 

Cassie wasn't sure what to say to that. "Oh. That was brave of you." Ginny gave a shaky laugh. 

"Yeah. He . . . never really said specifically. He just said it hurt a lot." 

"Do you think Remus is teaching him these same things?" 

"I'd bet on it. I remember once he even said that if he ever had to have a baby, he'd be ready. I didn't really know what he was talking about because magical people use several different spells at childbirth so that very few witches actually feel much pain, but I do now." They both smiled but there was no humor behind it because they were both thinking about Harry and how he had suffered at the hands of Voldemort and various Death Eaters. It didn't seem fair at all that one person should have to endure so much. 

Cassie glanced at her watch and realized that if they didn't hurry, they'd be late for their next class. "We better hurry, Ginny. I think we have to go to Transitions now, or something." 

"Transfiguration. Yeah, we better hurry. We don't want to give McGonagall another reason to give you detention. We're already really going to be pushing our luck as it is." They hurried along faster through the halls. 

"Do you think this'll work?" Cassie was extremely nervous about this class. It was one of Hermione's red ones and she knew that it would take a lot of work to pull this off. 

"I think so. Look, Pia, I should probably warn you about this class . . ."

"I know she's a bit of a hard nose. But Harry told me she's really pretty nice. I'll be okay. Don't worry."

"No, it's not about McGonagall . . . Oh, we're here. Well, we better get inside." 

They stepped into the classroom and Cassie couldn't help but smile. Ron, Harry, and Hermione were all sitting at one of the back tables. Ginny and Cassie joined them quickly, sliding into their seats just as the clock in the room chimed 3:00. That must be what Ginny wanted to tell her. The 7th years had class with them. This was going to be fun. 

Professor McGonagall was sitting at her desk in the front and looked around the classroom as she stood and walked in front of the desk. "I'd like to formally introduce our new student. Miss Spencer, please." Cassie stood up, looking around shyly. It looked like students from all four of the houses were in here. She had seen several of the students in the classroom before but there were several of the older students in other houses that she didn't think she had met before. As she moved to sit down, though, her eyes opened wide and she stared at the opposite corner of the room. Niles Caden was sitting there, which would have been all right, but he was sitting right by Draco Malfoy, who was leering unpleasantly at her. 

"Draco Malfoy is in this class?" She whispered frantically to Ginny as Professor McGonagall started the lecture. 

"Yeah. And he always sits in the front. You've got to be careful." The professor's eyes slid over to their table and Ginny didn't say anything more. Apparently today they were talking about inter-species transfiguration and she was lecturing in great detail about how to do what to Cassie sounded absolutely beyond impossible. Cassie was nervous but tried to listen as she explained the words needed and how to wave the wand. Not that it would help, but she could at least make it look good. She hoped this worked. If not, they could all be in serious trouble. The lecture seemed to go on for quite a while and Cassie gave up trying to figure out what Professor McGonagall was saying. She was trying to look like she was taking notes, moving her quill over a piece of parchment, trying to at least copy the diagrams and formulas Ginny was carefully writing next to her. Hermione was working on her second roll of parchment, Ron had a few half-hearted scribbles on his parchment. He was more involved in staring at Hermione than paying attention to Professor McGonagall and Cassie wondered if he was always this distracted when they had class together. Harry was writing carefully but his arm and Ginny's were touching and occasionally one of them would push on the other and they would smile at each other or laugh at some private joke. Cassie blew out a rather frustrated breath. This was boring so far. But, at least she wasn't having to attempt to do magic in front of everyone. It could be worse. 

It got worse a few minutes later. The professor moved a cloth, revealing a cage full of some wriggling moving creatures. "Rats," The professor said, and everyone in the room groaned. "You are going to be transfiguring them to rabbits today. Individually, up here where I can see you. And Miss Spencer, I'm going to be paying special attention to your technique when it gets to your turn." 


	22. The Rabbit Trick

Chapter 22

The Rabbit Trick

Cassie swallowed hard. Great. She could get up there and pretend she knew what she was doing so she could change an ugly rat, which she did not even want to be in the same room with, into a rabbit. Oh, this was going to be so fun. Professor McGonagall called out a student's name and the girl (Hannah Abbott) went to the front of the room. Cassie watched carefully to see what she did. 

"All right, Miss Abbott. Choose a rat for yourself." The girl opened the cage and reached inside to grab one of the struggling little rodents. Cassie swallowed hard. There was no way she was going to be able to touch one of those without gagging or running out of the room. The girl put the brown rat onto the table in front of the professor. She then waved her wand, said the words McGonagall had told them to, and there was a rabbit sitting there where the rat had been a moment before. Cassie blinked in some surprise. She hadn't, despite everything she had seen, really expected it to work. "Hm. Very good, Miss Abbott. The ears are a little short and the tail is not quite right, but all in all a very nice effort." She then opened another cage and put the rabbit inside, where it started nibbling on lettuce and hopping around. Cassie watched it in amazement, thinking it might change back into a rat if she stopped looking. But two students later, it was still there and had been joined by two new rabbits although one of their tails was distinctly long and one only had one ear. Cassie felt kind of sorry for the slightly deformed rabbits and wondered if the Professor was going to fix them at some point. Or maybe turn them back into rats. Of course, maybe they would be happier being deformed rabbits than perfectly nice rats but who could say. She doubted they could offer an opinion on the matter. 

The next student to go had a rather difficult time catching one of the rats and it was while watching him struggle that Cassie got an idea. Maybe she wouldn't have to touch one of the disgusting things after all. Hermione was next and she stood up extremely confident in her ability to do the spell. "If you see one in there with a silver paw, don't bother to change it into a rabbit, Hermione. Just kill it, would you?" Ron said as she walked away from the table. Harry and Ginny both laughed. 

"What did Ron say? What did he mean?"

Ginny was still smiling as she explained. "Ron had a pet rat for three years that turned out to be an evil wizard in disguise. He was actually working for Voldemort but he managed to escape." 

Well, that didn't really answer Cassie's question but she let it go because Hermione had picked a rat out of the cage, a large white one, and was getting ready to transform it. It was no surprise that the rabbit was absolutely perfect a moment later. Professor McGonagall praised her work extensively, examining the rabbit from all sides before she put it into the cage with the other rabbits. Hermione had a rather smug expression on her face as she crossed the room to return to their table but Cassie didn't blame her. If she could have done that, she would have been smug also. 

The next student was a boy and he had all sorts of problems with his rat, uh, rabbit. The ears didn't transform at all and the tail was definitely long and rat-like although it had turned white. The Professor was beside herself. "I can't even put that in the cage with the others. They might attack it. What in Merlin's name are you doing?" She transformed it back into a normal looking rat and returned it to the original cage. "If you don't work harder, you'll never pass your N.E.W.T. exams this spring."

"Yes, Professor. I'll practice more." 

"Good. This is difficult, but there is no reason all of you cannot be doing it well. Look at Miss Granger." Hermione flushed and stared down at her desk. 

There were a few mutterings from the far side of the room and Cassie could have sworn she heard Draco say quite loudly, "Do we have to?" which earned him a sharp look from the professor.

A girl was the next student on the list and she was extremely nervous, Cassie could tell, about getting one of the rats out of the cage. "I don't really like rats, Professor McGonagall. I'm much more of a cat person, really." Everybody laughed, including the teacher. 

"Flattery will get you nowhere, MacDougal, but I do appreciate it. Just reach in there and get one. They won't bite. " Cassie had not understood that exchange at all but she didn't ask Ginny. The class was completely quiet, watching the girl as she finally grabbed the rat and hurriedly threw it on the table. She actually did the spell fairly well and the much cuter looking rabbit joined its compatriots in the second cage a few moments later. 

It was Draco Malfoy's turn next and he practically swaggered the short distance to the front of the cage. Ginny muttered under her breath and Cassie had to bite her lip to keep from laughing out loud. "Maybe his father is in there with the other rats. Lucius would look very cute as a bunny rabbit." Draco grabbed a fat black rat out of the cage quickly and it squeaked in protest. "That could be daddy right now . . ." Cassie did laugh then, which earned her a quick scowl from Professor McGonagall. 

"Pay attention, please. Your turns will come soon enough." Draco looked over at them, trying to catch Cassie's eye as he placed the rat on the table. Cassie looked hard at the wall, unwilling to look at him. He changed his rat flawlessly into a black rabbit, just as sleek and fat as the rat had been. Then he waved his wand one more time and the rabbit turned into a beautiful green color - an exact match for the green in his tie. Cassie couldn't help it now, she glanced at his face and their eyes met. He was smirking and she knew he was showing off for her. She stared determinedly down at the table and listened as he was chewed out by Professor McGonagall for making the rabbit green, which was, apparently, vulgar and unacceptable. 

Harry was not too much further down the list and he walked confidently across the room toward the cage. He was able to select a rat rather quickly and Cassie realized that P was not that long before R, uh, S, and she was going to be expected to go up there very soon. She glanced at her watch. How much longer was this class? Was there any chance that time would run out before she actually had to go up there? No. There was still another 20 minutes and since each student was just barely taking 2-3 minutes for the entire process, she knew she was doomed. Harry returned to his seat after getting kudos from Professor McGonagall for his beautifully done transfiguration. Ginny squeezed his arm as he sat back down and Cassie knew her turn would have to be fairly soon. There were only about six more rats in the cage and Ron and Ginny would both be after her. 

She reached into her book bag, fingering her unicorn-core wand softly and then moving her hand into another pocket to draw out another. She really hoped this worked. Hermione had assured her it would, but she was extremely nervous. Finally, "Miss Spencer?" and she stood and walked with slow steps up to the front of the class. "Have you ever attempted inter-species transfiguration before?"

"No. But I have done some inanimate to animate and vice versa. I think I'll be all right." She had memorized that little speech this morning, Hermione assuring her that it made sense.

"Well, you can't do worse than some of the other students today. Let's see what you can do. Get a rat out of the cage, please." 

"Professor McGonagall? Would it be all right if I Accio'd the rat out to me rather than reaching in the cage for it? I just really don't want to stick my hand in there." The Professor blinked, obviously surprised. 

"Of course, good thinking. I wish all my students were as creative as you, Miss Spencer. It is obvious that you use magic well." Cassie took a deep breath. She really hoped this worked. 

She opened the door to the cage and pointed the wand at the rats inside. Very clearly she said, "Accio rat." The wand instantly exploded, and a dragon head erupted out of the end, belching a thick cloud of green smoke which engulfed the cage and drifted over the students in the first row of desks who coughed in reaction. Cassie's eyes opened wide in fright and surprise. Then, she scrunched her eyes togther and yelled, "Ron!!!" 

"What is the meaning of this, Miss Spencer? What happened? What is wrong with your wand?" Cassie at least had the presence of mind to slam the door to the rat cage closed before she turned to the Professor, hoping her expression of innocent surprise and righteous indignation at Ron would work. 

"This is obviously not my wand, Professor. Ron was showing me some of George and Fred's fake wands after lunch today. I must have accidently picked up the trick one rather than mine. I swear, Ron . . ." Cassie turned and glared at him and he at least had the grace to look sheepish. " . . . I'm going to kill you!" 

"Mr. Weasley. I thought I had warned you about bringing your brothers' equipment into this school." 

"Sorry, Professor. But I didn't tell her to take the trick wand."

"Well, where is her actual wand?"

"Yeah. Where is my wand? I'm going to need it later."

The entire class was laughing now and Ron flushed. Cassie knew he couldn't have faked this. He had been very kind offering to take the blame for this entire fiasco when he got so easily embarrassed. "I guess it's up in my dorm room with the other trick wands. Do you want me to go get it?" 

"No. It's too close to the end of class. All right, Miss Spencer. You're excused. Please sit down. Next class period, though, I will expect you to do this transfiguration as well as the one we will do for that lesson." 

"That's fine. I'm sorry, Professor. I didn't mean to cause problems."

"I understand. Just please don't let it happen again. That was quite a display." Cassie returned to her seat, trying to catch Ron's eye in gratitude. At least he hadn't gotten detention. He had been fairly positive that he would and had even told Harry they may have to cancel Quidditch practice tonight since he would be scrubbing floors or something. She had felt terribly guilty but it hadn't been as bad as he had feared. The rest of the class, including Ginny and Ron, finished their transfigurations quickly and the class streamed out of the room a few minutes later, everyone grumbling over the 18-inch essay they were assigned for homework. 

As they were leaving, Cassie felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to find Draco Malfoy standing beside her. "Does that mean you like dragons?" He wasn't exactly holding her in place, but he was definitely closer than she wanted. It was the first time he had ever actually touched her and she was glad it was on her robes. She was not sure she could have avoided shuddering if he had actually touched her skin. 

"Not particularly. They have sharp teeth and bad breath." She tried to pull away but he just increased his hold on her shoulder. Ron intervened, though, grimacing at the blond boy and grabbing Cassie's arm, pulling her away from him. 

"But you haven't given this one a chance. You may be pleasantly surprised."

His hand had fallen away as she was being pulled down the corridor to where her other friends were waiting. "I definitely will not be finding out, Malfoy. I'm not interested, at all." Could she make it any clearer? 

"Why not? I don't bite . . . much. Unless you want me to." This was called down the hall after her and her face flamed almost to the color of Ron's hair as the other students laughed. She glanced back down the hall at the 7th-year Slytherin who was grinning at her. Niles Caden had just exited the classroom and had obviously heard what Draco said. He scowled at him and that was the last thing Cassie saw before Ron stepped behind her and she was ushered away toward the Gryffindor common room. 

As they walked through the school corridors, several of the students from the class asked Ron about the possibility of buying one of the trick wands because they had been extremely impressed with how realistic it looked and with the big explosion. Ron wound up collecting money for five of them and told the students he would order them immediately and they should be here within a day or so. "You're good for business, Pia. And my brothers told me I got a commission on anything I could sell for them - 20%, so I just made a cool 10 galleons. Thanks. That'll really help for Saturday. I can even buy Hermione a great Christmas present." 

"That's nice, Ron." Cassie was feeling extremely frustrated at the moment and was not in the mood to discuss Ron's sudden windfall. It was now 8 at night and she was unbelievably exhausted considering how early it was. After dinner (which had been bad enough - expecting Draco Malfoy to sneak up behind and grab her any minute), the three Quidditch players had gone off to practice and she had started on her homework. She had not been dreading the homework too much tonight because it was basically two essays. However, she was having a lot more difficulty with this set than she had with those she had done just yesterday. 

Since Remus had not actually cast the pain curse on either her or Ginny, she had absolutely no idea what she was supposed to talk about in her 12 inches of essay. She had thought about talking about her friend's mother's experience with her natural childbirth. However, Hermione had nixed that idea because (she said several times) if someone else should happen to pick up that scroll and read it, they would be able to figure out immediately that she was a Muggle. That left her with a big fat nothing to say. So, she had wound up sitting in the library with some large volumes in front of her which discussed the history and theory of the Cruciatus curse. It was boring, very boring, although Hermione did not agree and kept going into raptures about how fascinating the history of the Unforgiveable curses was. Right. Fascinating. She wished Hermione would just have agreed to write the stupid essay but she refused, leaving Cassie to stumble through as best she could. She had finally managed to come up with about 8 inches that talked about what had happened in class and how nervous everyone was. She also added on about how frightened she had been and how she really had not been able to volunteer for Remus to curse her. Hermione had been quite disturbed about the fact that the essay was not the full 12 inches, but Cassie had managed to pacify her by promising to come back and add more to it even though she knew it was a lie. Remus was just going to have to endure 8 inches. If he complained about it, she would add more to it, but she seriously doubted that he would care. 

That had been an hour ago. Now, she was staring at a still blank piece of parchment that had to be filled with 18 inches of something concerning inter-species transfiguration. She had read through her textbook. She had gone through her own notes and Ginny's notes. She had even begged Hermione to explain to her what exactly she was supposed to put on this paper and the older girl had taken pity on her and given her the bare outlines of what McGonagall would want to read. "I can't write it for you, though. She would recognize my writing style immediately and then we'd both be in trouble." That made sense, Cassie had to admit, but it didn't make her any happier. At least she had finally made peace with the quill. She still had to write slowly and carefully but at least she didn't have to have her parchment cleaned up after she was done with an assignment. But at this moment, that was not her problem. Right now she wished she had something on the parchment to clean up. It's blank whiteness was starting to freak her out. 

Ginny slid into the seat next to her and pulled out her own homework. 

"How was practice?" 

"Good. We've got a while before we play again so it was pretty low key. It was freezing, though. I was glad for a hot shower." 

"Where's Harry?" Ron and Ginny were there but she had yet to see Harry since he left the dinner table for practice more than two hours ago. 

"Snape. It's one of those nights." 

"Ah. Does that mean he's going to be grouchy tonight?"

"Most likely. Either that or he'll just go right to bed. Sometimes his head hurts so bad after this that he just goes to sleep. Poor guy." 

"What is it exactly that Snape is teaching him? I don't see that Potions would be terribly helpful against Voldemort." Ginny laughed loudly and Cassie smiled. She didn't know what she had said, but apparently it had been fairly witty. 

"He's not teaching him Potions. He's teaching him something called Occlumency. Last year Dumbledore taught him, but Harry thought he could handle it from Snape again this year. They hate each other but he is learning the stuff, I guess." Cassie had no idea what Occlumency was so she asked Ginny. "It's blocking someone from reading your mind. Remember how I told you that Snape could do that? Well, he tries to read Harry's mind and Harry tries to keep him from doing it. It's hard." 

"Yuck. He lets Snape read his mind?" Ginny nodded with a scowl on her face. 

"Yeah. It would give me the creeps, believe me." 

"Poor Harry." Cassie thought for a few minutes about how much Harry went through all the time, just because he had been born. But, in general, he didn't seem too unhappy with it. She thought that if it was her, she would be a lot more unpleasant. She smiled faintly as she watched Ginny flip through her Transfiguration textbook to the right section. Ginny was good for him, obviously. They were good for each other. "I need some help, Ginny. I'm desperate. I don't even know where to start." 

"McGonagall's essays are tough, but they don't have to be terribly creative. She just wants to make sure you know the material. I have sort of a template I use for them. Just plug in the appropriate spells and formulas and you're set. Don't tell Hermione, though. I think she approaches each essay as a separate work of art." Cassie glanced over at Hermione but she hadn't overheard Ginny's comment because she and Ron were paying attention to something else that had absolutely nothing to do with Transfiguration and a lot to do with physical education. 

By the time the two of them had started on their own essays, Cassie and Ginny were almost done. Cassie was extremely relieved to have the parchment almost filled. She really needed to write a letter back home to her parents and planned on doing that as soon as her homework was done. It was now almost 9 o'clock and she wasn't sure how much longer she could hold out without collapsing completely. 

"Let's go on back to the common room," Ginny suggested a few minutes later. "I think Harry should be back from Snape soon and he may want to talk." The Fat Lady assured the two girls that Harry had not come back from his torture, uh, class, yet and Ginny was happy about that. "He may not want to talk to me. Sometimes that's how it is. But it's nothing personal." 

"Does that hurt your feelings?" 

"Honestly?" 

"Yeah. Honestly."

"I try not to let it. But . . . well, sometimes it does. 'Cause maybe I want to talk to him but that doesn't matter. He sort of guides it, you know what I mean?" 

"Uh-huh. Makes sense." Cassie rolled up her Transfiguration essay and tucked it into her bag, pulling out yet another sheet of parchment and settling down at one of the tables. She noticed another couple in the corner at one of the other tables and smiled broadly. "Hey, Ginny. They make a cute couple, don't they?" Colin and Elspeth were working on their homework together, consulting over some essay, maybe Remus's. Elspeth looked completely thrilled and Colin was looking pretty happy himself. 

"They look cute together, but I don't know if it will work out." Ginny pulled out another piece of parchment. "I mean . . . Saffron wasn't kidding when she said Elspeth's parents would have a fit if they knew she was dating a Muggle-born. I met them once. Don't like Muggles at all." 

"She just shouldn't tell them." 

"Maybe that will work. I don't know." 

Cassie watched the other two for quite a long time before she buckled down to write the letter to her parents. Harry had come in soon after her conversation with Ginny and the two of them had gone out on a walk. Harry looked tired but not unhappy or angry which Cassie could tell made Ginny very happy. 

She finally started the letter, carefully forming each letter with the quill pen, trying to decide how much to tell them. She still had to be careful even though chances of the letter being intercepted were small. It sounded like Remus or Arthur was going to take it personally rather than it going by owl post, but she would still have to sign it Pia and not rant too much about the amazing things she saw at school. 

"Dear Mum and Dad,

I got your letter yesterday night but have not had time to write back before now. It has been a very full day of classes here. I started with Charms which was fun because we each made a snowstorm above our desk and then built snowmen out of the resulting snow. Then, we made them come to life and dance around. Ginny's snowman and my snowman had a snowball fight. It was really great. I wish I could have taken a picture for you. 

Then we went to Care of Magical Creatures which would have been fun if the Magical Creature we were supposed to be caring for was a little more, um, cuddly. Hagrid, the teacher, had found a chimera somewhere. Yes, they are supposed to be completely vicious and have been known to eat people, but Hagrid calls it Shimmy and thinks it is cuddly and nice. According to Ron and Harry, this is typical for him. The scarier the animal, the more Hagrid likes it. 

Defense was good, but I don't know where to even begin describing it. Professor Lupin teaches it and he's really nice and really good. But it is a hard subject. 

For my last class of the day, I was supposed to turn a rat into a rabbit. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to do that because of a wand mistake. Can't do that again or my professor will be really mad. All in all, I'm having a pretty good time. I miss you, of course, but it shouldn't be too much longer before I can come home. 

Arthur told me, Dad, that you were sick this weekend and I've been worried about you, of course. I hope that whatever got you down is gone now and that you will take better care of yourself than you were. Remember that you are only human and can get sick easily if you insist on pushing yourself. 

We have a Hogsmeade visit this Saturday which means I can shop for candy for everyone. I'll make sure and get some good stuff for Matthew and John. And Mum, I know how much you like Honeyduke's chocolate so I'll pick up a good supply. 

I'm happy here, so don't worry. 

Love, Pia" 

Cassie read over the letter several times. She didn't want to let them know how really hard it was here. But she also wasn't sure they'd really believe that she had done all this stuff. Maybe Colin could take a picture of her at some point and she could send it home to them. Of course, that might cause other problems, so maybe not. But she also wanted to let her dad know not to take any more foolish chances. He didn't realize, because he had never seen it, how scary a wizard could really be. Arthur and Remus were nice and friendly. And she had never told him about the battle in June. Maybe that had been a mistake. Maybe she should have told him once he knew about the entire trip. After all, what could he do at that point? He could ground her, but that wouldn't be that bad. Being forced to stay home with her family might be nice. But there was time for worrying about that later. Right now she had to concentrate on getting back home safely when she was no longer in danger of being blasted by dark wizards. She hoped it wouldn't be too much longer. She folded the letter and wrote "Mum and Dad" on the outside. She would lay it on her bed in a few minutes and hopefully sometime tomorrow her parents would know that she was happy and adjusting well to being a student at Hogwarts. 


	23. Another Letter from George

Chapter 23

Another Letter from George

Cassie groaned as she rolled over in bed. She really did not want to face the day today. And she was feeling kind of grouchy. She wasn't supposed to have class until 10 and she was planning on ditching it anyway. She wasn't sure how she was going to pull it off but she figured that if she just refused to go, there wasn't much Ginny could do about it anyway. She would just pretend she wasn't feeling well and spend the morning, maybe even the whole day, here in bed. 

"Pia, you'd better get up. We're supposed to meet Hermione and everyone down in the common room in 15 minutes." Normally by the time they had their daily pre-breakfast planning meeting, Cassie and Ginny had to have showered and dressed. Today, they had decided they would just be slobs at the meeting and breakfast then come back up to their room to shower because they would have the dorm to themselves while everyone else was at class. That had been the plan last night before Cassie settled on her new plan - which was to not budge from this bed. 

She briefly considered lying to Ginny and telling her she was sick, but decided that could just cause problems. She would tell her the truth and let her lie to everyone else who wanted to know where she was. She pulled the pillow over her face. She was tired of this place. How much longer was she supposed to stay here, anyway? She wanted to go home. She wanted. . . well, she wasn't sure what she wanted. But she knew it didn't involve going to classes on subjects she didn't care about pretending to be something she wasn't. 

As she expected a minute later, her curtains were pulled back and Ginny looked in on her. "Are you all right?" She just grunted. She didn't want to be rude to Ginny, who had been nothing but nice to her, but right now she couldn't think of a single nice thing to say to her. She could just go down and snog her boyfriend by herself. Cassie didn't want to watch it. "I'm okay. I'm not going to class today." She wondered how much of that Ginny could understand through the pillow. Not much apparently. 

"What? Are you feeling okay?"

That was her opening. All she had to do was push the pillow off her face and say, "no" and she could be left alone here to feel sorry for herself, which is what she really wanted to do. She pushed the pillow off her face okay, but instead of saying no she repeated her statement. "I'm okay, Ginny. I'm just not going to class today. You can tell everyone I'm sick." 

There was silence for a few moments and Cassie chanced a glance over at her friend. Ginny's brows were drawn together in concern. "So . . . you want me to tell everyone you're sick? You don't want to come to class?" 

Cassie pulled the pillow back over her face and nodded. This time, Ginny didn't ask any questions. She just pulled the pillow away from Cassie's face. "Get up. If you're not sick, you can't ditch class." 

"Says who?" Cassie could hear that she sounded like a 5-year-old whining brat, but she didn't really care. She wanted to be a whining brat. She wanted to be left alone. 

"Says me. Says everyone. What is your problem?" 

"No problem." Cassie rolled over, burying her face in the mattress. The truth is, that maybe she wanted to get everyone mad. And she was smart enough to realize that this could be what was motivating her sudden moodiness. Maybe if Remus was mad at her, he'd pay attention to her and get her out of here. Maybe her parents could insist she come back home. Maybe Professor Dumbledore could tell her how long she was doomed to stay here. Maybe if she threw a big enough fit . . . well, at least it would make her feel better. 

"Look, Pia. What happened? You seemed all right last night." Cassie finally sat up and looked Ginny full in the face. 

"I am all right. I'm just tired of struggling through every class. I've looked at my schedule today, and I don't want to go to class. At all. Just tell everyone I'm sick. No one will care. And it's not like my grades are going to suffer. Think how easy your day will be if you don't have to take care of me." That last one was kind a low blow, but she thought it might make Ginny more amenable to the idea. 

"Hmmm. All right. Lay back down. Here's your pillow." The bed hangings were closed again and Cassie stared at the spot where a second before Ginny had been standing. 

Had it really been that easy? She was almost surprised. She had been in the mood for a knock-down drag out fight and she had just handed her back her pillow and told her to go back to bed. Well, that is what she wanted, wasn't it? Fine. She would. She raised her head and stuffed the pillow underneath. She had just closed her eyes, resolved to actually do what she had threatened Ginny with when the curtains were ripped open again, wide this time and not nicely. This time, the head that poked through them was not Ginny's. It was Hermione's and Cassie could have sworn that she had fire in her eyes. 

"What is going on here? Ginny told us some ridiculous story about your not getting up this morning." 

"Tattle tale." Cassie glared past Hermione's shoulder to where she could see Ginny standing there. Ginny just shrugged. 

"I'm smart enough to get help when I need it." 

"Hermione. I appreciate your concern. I do. It's just hard to do this, you know? I'm tired. I don't want to go to classes today." 

"Well, that's big of you. I'd hate to think you'd overtaxed yourself by going to two days worth of classes where you don't even have to do any of the work. So you really think you've worked hard enough to earn a rest, huh?" 

Cassie had a sudden overwhelming feeling of guilt. It was true that everyone else was working a lot harder than she was. She shoved that feeling aside. All the more reason for her to ditch class. They could all relax if they didn't have to worry about her. She was just about to explain this to Hermione when the other girl said,

"There may be a day when you do have to ditch because you have no other options. Today is not it. If you stay here in bed today and then miss another day later, it will be too conspicuous. You need to get up. And I don't care what sort of reasoning you are using. You either get up on your own or I'll force you. And you know I can." 

"I don't want to go to Herbology." Where had that come from? She had meant to lambast Hermione for threatening to force her to do anything with magic. She had opened her mouth to dare her to do it. She had planned on telling her that she would like to see her try it. Instead, something completely different had come out. 

Hermione laughed loudly and Cassie scowled. "It was terrible. I don't want to go there again." 

Ginny laughed too and Cassie flopped back down on her bed. "So, you're willing to face Snape - who is threatening to use Veritaserum on you? You're willing to face McGonagall for heck's sake? You're willing to listen to Hagrid wax poetic about a chimera? You can face down Draco Malfoy barely blinking an eyelash?! But you won't go to a greenhouse and deal with a bunch of plants!" Her voice had been getting louder and louder and Cassie wondered if the entire common room downstairs could hear Hermione yelling at her. Cassie stared at her, eyes wide, wondering what she was supposed to say. 

"I guess I am being a bit of a prat, aren't I?" All the anger she had been carefully stoking in her gut disappeared and she stared at the two girls who were bending over her. "I hate that class." 

"Well, you can hate it, but it's not hard."

"That's true. But the stupid plants keep biting me." 

"Ginny said she was a little bit too relaxed in class on Friday. She's going to take better care of you today, if you need her to. And Neville was saying on Sunday that he thought he was going to help you more next class period, which would be today. So you'll have two people to . . ." and Hermione, who was valiantly trying to keep a straight face suddenly couldn't keep it in any longer. She broke into gales of laughter, flopping down on the bed across Cassie's legs. She finally managed to pull herself together enough to finish her sentence. " . . . protect you from the big, bad plants." All three of them laughed hard. Her bed was actually shaking as both she and Hermione kept laughing. Ginny got so weak in the knees from her laughing that she had to sit down on her own bed, where she grabbed her pillow and buried her face in it as she tried to regain control. After a few minutes, Cassie felt most of her frustration evaporate. 

"Okay. I'll get up. Sorry I was being such a jerk." She extricated her legs out from under Hermione who was still laying there laughing like a maniac. She grabbed her clothes from her trunk and hurriedly threw them on. She had caused a big problem and she was going to try as hard as she could to make up for it. Five minutes later, the three of them were heading down the stairs to the common room where Harry and Ron were pacing nervously in front of one of the couches. Harry looked a lot happier when he saw Cassie coming down the stairs with them. She smiled wanly and hoped that when Hermione and Ginny described what an idiot she had been this morning it would be at some point where she didn't have to hear Harry laugh at her. She wasn't sure she could handle having him think she was being stupid. 

They had their meeting extremely quickly. This was partly because the classes for the day shouldn't be too stressful and partly because the common room was quite busy and they didn't want to look too conspicuous and risk being overheard. She just had one class today that could be trouble and that was Potions right after lunch. She really couldn't count Herbology even though she was really dreading that one. 

"So, Pia. If he starts talking about using Veritaserum, don't hesitate to use the Snackboxes, but otherwise, just do what you did last time. It seemed to work." Cassie grimaced. She had a feeling that it wasn't going to be as easy today as it had been last time. And that had been no picnic. But she thought that Snape would probably keep a very close eye on her. 

"Can I ask one question about those that just kind of dawned on me yesterday?"

"Sure." They were all standing up now, getting ready to head down to the Great Hall for breakfast. 

"If I use the Fainting Fancies, how am I supposed to take the antidote to that one? Won't I be, uh, unconscious?" 

"Hey! That's a good question." Harry said, looking at Ron and then Hermione. Ginny is the one who answered the question, though.

"Well, that used to be a problem. You had to have someone who was your partner who could put the light side into your mouth as you lay there passed out on the floor. But they've redone the formula. Now you faint but come back around after a few minutes. If you don't take the antidote within about five minutes, though, you faint again." Harry raised his eyebrow at that. 

"You're kidding. Does it just keep going?" 

"Yeah. I think so. They tested it up to 30 times. And every fainting spell was just as impressive as the first one. They work great." 

Cassie sighed. "I think I'll try the other ones before I use that one. It just sounds a little too scary for me. I don't like to be out of control of myself." She really didn't want to use any of them. No offense to George, but all of the things sounded pretty nasty. Well, she maybe could handle the fever, but that was something that she also could not picture using in Snape's class. Excuse me, Professor, but I'm burning up with fever. Could you kiss my forehead and see what I mean? Yeah. That would be great. She kept her thoughts to herself, though. She would do what she had to do. That was how it had to be. 

Breakfast looked really good this morning and Cassie served herself a generous portion of eggs as the platter came by her. She also had two goblets of pumpkin juice. She knew that the walk across the grounds later would be cold and wet and she wanted to avoid getting sick for real. After all, if she felt miserable, what would be the fun of staying in bed? 

Owl post arrived a few minutes later and she watched with interest as the various owls dropped packages, letters, newspapers, and other assorted items onto the tables. She smiled as Hermione exclaimed with pleasure over a package that came from her parents. "Oh, I thought they'd forgotten. This is great." It seemed to be some sort of magazine. She was going to ask for a closer look, but just then an envelope bearing the name of Pia Spencer fell in front of her plate, narrowly missing her goblet of juice. She smiled as she recognized the handwriting. 

George. 

And she was awfully glad that she had decided to come down to breakfast after all. She wanted to rip it open right away but forced herself to act nonchalant as she picked it up. Ginny winked at her and started talking to Harry, effectively drawing his attention away from the letter and onto his girlfriend. She tucked it into the pocket of her robes. She would read it in a minute when she was back in her room, in as much privacy as she could hope to get around here. It seemed to take forever for everyone to finish their meals. Finally, though, the three 7th year students stood and picked up their book bags. "We'll see you at lunch, okay?" 

"Yeah. Good luck in Herbology, Pia." Hermione smiled broadly. "Don't let any plants get too frisky." 

"Very funny, Hermione. Very funny." She and Ginny climbed the stairs, Cassie leading the way and hurrying up faster than she usually did. 

"Calm down, Pia. We've got more than an hour before we need to be in class. I know you're excited for Herbology, but . . . we've got plenty of time." 

"Ha. Ha. Boy, everyone's a comedian today." 

"He must have written you back the second he got your last letter." Cassie nodded. She hadn't realized how anxious she was to hear from George until she had actually seen the letter. Now that it was here she could hardly stand the wait until she could open it and read what he had to say. She hoped it was a nice long one that she could enjoy for a long time. 

When they got up to their room, it was empty as expected. The other girls apparently all had early classes. They still had to shower and do their hair as well as get dressed in their regular uniforms instead of the jeans and sweaters they had both thrown on for breakfast. But, if necessary, she could get all that done in 30 minutes. So that left her plenty of time to savor this letter. She climbed up onto her bed, kicking off her shoes and sliding, fully dressed, into her covers. She squished her pillow into a back rest and made herself comfortable. Only then, did she dare open the seal on the parchment and unroll the letter. It was long. Nice and long. At least three sheets. And the writing was fairly small. Ginny laughed. 

"He didn't even bother to send me or Ron notes to make it look less noticeable that you got a letter from him." 

"Uh, huh." 

"That's kind of risky, don't you think?"

"Uh, huh." Cassie was trying to concentrate on her letter but Ginny seemed determined to have a full-blown conversation. 

"Do you want me to be quiet?"

"Uh, huh. Oh, I mean, well . . ." She glanced up for the first time, stricken that she may have hurt Ginny's feelings. 

"I'm just teasing you. I'll shut up. Enjoy." Ginny pulled a book off her night stand and proceeded to bury her head in it, which left Cassie with nothing to do or say but read George's letter and she smiled as she was finally able to read it. 

Dear Pia,

Thanks so much for your letter. Would you believe me if I told you that I read it immediately? I love hearing from you. Fred was teasing me about it because I even let my breakfast burn this morning as I was paying attention to it rather than my toast. Mum wasn't too happy because I made a lot of smoke and mess, but Fred was nice enough to clean it up for me. He knew I was thinking about you. I miss you so much - it doesn't make sense that I miss you like this because we didn't really see each other that much before. But at least I knew you were nearby. Now you're very far away and I keep thinking about you and wondering if you're all right. 

I got a copy of Ginny's timetable from Mum. Dad said you're in all of her classes. So I know where you are all the time and I know what you're probably studying. For example, if this letter reaches you on Tuesday morning like it should, you have Herbology at 10. Then after lunch you have Potions with Snape. So, at 10 I will think about you and wonder if Sprout is giving you a bad time and imagine you standing with your arms up to the elbows in dragon dung fertilizer and I just will get all misty-eyed and romantic. Then as I eat lunch I will think about what the house-elves made for you to eat and wonder if you like it. Then, I'll send good thoughts your direction when I know that you're in class with Snape and wonder if he looks at you and thinks you are pretty or if he just takes points from you because you're clever and won't kowtow to him. 

Fred says I'm getting too wrapped up in you but I don't care what he says. He's just jealous because you like me and not him (well, not in the same way) and his girlfriend told him two weeks ago to put one of our wet-start fireworks in his mouth. And she didn't suggest that this would improve his kissing. I told him that we would have to come see you this Saturday under the cover of doing some supply shopping. I don't suppose anyone will believe us but I don't care about that either. Saturday seems like a month away when I am writing this letter on Monday. You will get this on Tuesday and I am praying that you write me back again that very day, maybe before Astronomy at midnight (see - I know your schedule) which means I will get it on Wednesday and Saturday will still be too far away. Tell Ginny that I will be at the Three Broomsticks at 10 on Saturday. Then tell her that she will have to find something to occupy Harry and Ron and Hermione because I want to spend time with you, alone. A lot of time. We have a lot of time to make up for. 

It is so frustrating to be here without you when you are there without me. I've threatened to come up and visit you several times and you've only been there for a few days. I just keep thinking about you. I could come up and pretend I was just there for a visit, couldn't I? My dad told me in no uncertain terms that I was not allowed to do this. He won't really tell me why, just that it's too dangerous for you. Since I'd rather die than see you get hurt, I've decided that I can wait until Saturday, maybe. How many days is that? Five days. That's 120 hours, Pia. AAAH!

You're going to let me kiss you, aren't you? Please? If we're alone? I couldn't bear to see you without holding you and kissing you. Make sure to tell Ginny that they'll have to keep themselves busy for a very long time. 

Actually, I wanted to ask you if there was any chance that you could spend Saturday night with me. Well, Saturday evening and night. I mean, go out with me on Saturday night. I could have you back at school by midnight or so. There's some fancy to-do at the Ministry and we're supposed to bring a date and I just can't stand the thought of being with anyone but you. Please? I would buy you a dress on Saturday if you don't have a fancy dress with you. We could use a port-key so your dress wouldn't get dirty and then we could dance. I would love to dance with you. I'm pretty decent - well, compared to Fred. You have to get out of the way when Fred dances. Then when we were done we could floo back to Hogsmeade and I'd walk you home. Ask Remus. He likes you, I know. And he likes me, too. Maybe he'd let you come with me. 

Who am I kidding? I'm sure that's not going to happen . . . but you could still ask couldn't you? If you can't come I probably won't go at all. Dad and Mum are going and I thought it would be fun to go with them. Fred is going without a date unless he can find someone else to take who does not want to insert firecrackers into his various bodily orifices. But he has to because he doesn't have a girlfriend. But I do. I think. I hope. 

Okay, this letter is extremely pitiful. I sound like a whiny little kid. I feel whiny though. I want see you again. The last time was too strange and short. I hardly even got to say hello to you and then you were gone and having you practically pulled out of my arms did not leave me with the most satisfied feeling. 

I'm going to close this letter now before I break down and start begging you to let me see you sooner than Saturday. I'm supposed to be the older one of the two of us, remember? 

Hey, if you want to think of me like I'm thinking of you . . . you just can know that I'm probably standing somewhere staring into space imagining what you are doing. Okay? 

Hugs, and lots and lots of kisses, 

George

Cassie finished the letter and stared at it for a very long time. So many thoughts were racing through her mind that she didn't even know how to start organizing them. 

The first thought was that he had not been careful with this letter. If it had been intercepted, the charade about their being cousins would have been shot literally to hell. This was not a cousin-y sort of letter. This was a letter full of . . . kissing and hugging and dancing. 

And that led to her second thought, which was that he wanted to kiss her and hug her and hold her and she closed her eyes. She wanted that, too, more than anything in the world. 

Which led immediately to her third thought which was that she was going to be seeing him on Saturday which was remarkably soon and unbelievably far away. Saturday. And he wanted to take her out on a date. To a party. Of course, that was not going to happen. There was no chance of it. She actually thought it was pretty amazing that she was even getting to go to Hogsmeade because it was sort of risky. But so far, no one had told her she couldn't go. And she didn't want to ask. But that was beside the point. She knew she couldn't even ask Remus about Saturday night. Too bad. Because being held by George and dancing sounded heavenly. 

"Well, what did he have to say?" Cassie roused herself from her thoughts to look at Ginny. 

"I think he forgot we were supposed to be cousins." 

"What?" 

"His letter. No cousins." She reluctantly handed over the letter. She was a little embarrassed about how effusive he had been in his obvious desire to see her again and she also didn't want Ginny to be mad at her brother. But she felt like Ginny deserved to know what was going on. She crawled out of her bed as Ginny took the letter and started skimming it quickly. She dug her toiletries out of her trunk and then laid out the uniform she was going to wear today. She had tried, sincerely tried, to fall in love with a nice normal Muggle boy. Someone who wouldn't write to her about using a port-key or having her arms up to the elbows in dragon dung fertilizer. But despite her best efforts, her heart for the moment was firmly in the grasp of a full-blooded wizard. And one who didn't even know that she was a Muggle. That was another issue that she was going to have to deal with. She was going to have to tell him the truth when she saw him. Even if she had to force him to stand still and listen to her. Then, he may give her back the pieces of her heart and say good riddance. Well, that was the price she would have to pay for deceiving him all this time. It wasn't his fault she hadn't found the courage to do it earlier, but he would be paying the price, too. 

"I'm going to kill him!" As she suspected, Ginny was mad. 

"Don't be mad . . ."

"What are you talking about, Pia? He could be endangering your life! And the life of your entire family! Not to mention all the other people that could be affected by this . . . plot, meeting, whatever. Don't defend him. He's got to get a grip on his hormones! If Dad had seen this letter . . . If anyone had seen this letter, he would have been skinned alive. You could have already been taken by Death Eaters. It's pure luck that it wasn't intercepted. Who knows what sort of wizards are out looking for you? What an idiot!"

"He's not an idiot."

"Don't let your obvious crush on my brother blind you to his stupidity, Pia. I don't want you to write him back. I'll write him back and I'll put the fear of God into him. I'll also tell him that you don't like him that way anymore. Maybe I can tell him that you and Neville have started dating or something. Or that Caden guy from Slytherin. At least he'd get the idea." 

Cassie stared at Ginny with wide eyes. She hardly recognized the red-haired hellion who was stomping around their dorm room waving the parchment that had so many sweet words on it like it was about to explode. "Don't you dare tell him any such thing! Please!"

"You'll have to then. In no uncertain terms. I mean it."

"No. I won't do it. I like him. Maybe even love him. And I won't do that. I'll remind him about the cousin thing." 

"You can't see him on Saturday." Cassie's chin went up a fraction. 

"So . . . I suppose if the situation were different. . . . If it was you here and Harry there, you would just be able to ignore him and not see him? Is that what you're telling me?"

"Don't bring me and Harry into this, Pia. We've known each other for years. Not a few months. And I love him. And he loves me." 

"Well, George thinks he loves me. And I know how I feel about him. And I want to see him on Saturday."

Ginny stared at Cassie for a long minute. "We'd better get ready or we're going to be late for Herbology. Don't write him back until we decide what you can tell him." 

"We? What we?"

"The four of us, you know."

"No. Absolutely not. I do not want you mentioning one single thing to anyone else. Not Harry, not Ron, and not Hermione." 

"But . . ."

"No. Look. He'll probably break up with me on Saturday anyway so then it becomes a moot point, okay. I'll listen to your advice to a certain point. But that's all I'll promise to do. I'll wait until later before I write him. But I'll do the writing. And I'll see him on Saturday and then it will all be over, okay?" 

"I'm sorry, Pia. I . . . I'm sorry that you don't think it could work out. He obviously really likes you. I mean if he can think romantic thoughts about you and dragon dung fertilizer . . . it must be love." The two girls laughed a little bit, but Cassie at least, wasn't really amused. 

"Come on. We better get ready for class. No use losing points from this class. There'll be enough of that in Potions." 


	24. PepperUp Potion Problems

Chapter 24

Pepper-up Potion Problems

It turned out that Herbology really wasn't as bad as Cassie had feared. The plants Professor Sprout had them working with today were a lot nicer than the others had been. Neville kept a close eye on her as well, and he seemed extremely competent. 

"I'm sorry you had such a bad experience last time, Pia. I still don't understand why those plants were so riled up. They usually aren't that aggressive." 

"Maybe they're like dogs. They can sense fear." 

Neville had laughed heartily at that one but Ginny suggested maybe it was their growling and roaring fingernails that had aggravated the plants. Neville had seemed to accept that as a possibility, especially when Ginny had explained how Pia's nails were the loudest of the three of them and it made sense that the plants would have focused their unwanted attention on her. Her nails were exactly the same as everyone else's but Neville didn't know that. And, as Neville said, "I find that easier to believe than the possibility that the same girl who could tell Snape where to get off would be afraid of some friendly little plants." Cassie then tried to explain to Neville how her experiences in Potions on Friday were being grossly exaggerated as the tales circulated through the school, but he seemed to not believe her. 

As they were working with their plants, up to the elbows in dragon dung fertilizer as George had predicted, Neville explained how terribly he had always done in Potions. "He just would make me so nervous that I could barely remember my own name much less anything else. The man hated me, I'm telling you. I was so relieved when I didn't have to take it last year." 

"Why were you so nervous? I mean, what did you think he would do to you?" Cassie reached up to push some of her hair out of her eyes and Neville laughed as he looked at her to answer her question. 

"You've got a streak of - oh, let me clean you up. You're only making more of a mess." Neville grabbed a cloth out of his pocket and carefully wiped at her forehead. Cassie flushed a little under his ministrations, thinking about what Ginny had said earlier about telling George she and Neville had started dating. Neville was nice enough although he seemed rather underappreciated by most people at the school. But she definitely did not want to date the boy. 

"I don't know. I mean, when I first started I guess I thought he could have just hexed me or something. You know, Cruciatus or something like that. And then, the fear just multiplied even though I know he really wouldn't have done anything like that if he wanted to keep his job. He was really good at humiliating me though, and when you're young and don't have many friends that can be almost as painful as any curse he could give you. The fact the Slytherins were in the same class with us every time didn't help. Anything he would say to me would be multiplied 100 times by Malfoy and his cronies so that the whole school would know that I had, yet again, messed up my potion." 

"That's really terrible, Neville. I'm sorry." 

"Thanks. But I survived and now I'm taking classes I like. And I only have to see him at meals."

"That's probably often enough." 

"Definitely." They both laughed although Cassie's was tinged with a little bit of nervousness because she knew after lunch she would be facing Snape and she wasn't looking forward to it. Not at all. 

With that in mind, then, lunch was a quiet meal for Cassie. She kept expecting Professor Snape to suddenly appear at the head table and glare at her. She was already extremely tense in anticipation of this next "We're in Big Trouble" class, especially knowing everyone was expecting Snape to be extremely mean to her. She barely picked at her food and if someone had asked her immediately afterward what had been offered, she would not have been able to say. She could feel various students' eyes on her throughout the lunch and she could have sworn that the entire school was holding its breath waiting to find out how Potions went. 

"I think I'm really sick now, Ginny. I'm not going to have to fake it, either." 

"Yeah. I know what you mean. I'm feeling a little queasy myself. However," Ginny picked up Cassie's bookbag and threw it over her shoulder, "I think we're just going to have to fake it. If we don't show up, everyone is going to be talking about how you chickened out." 

"Yeah. Is that a bad thing?" Ginny just laughed. Elspeth caught up with them on the steps as they descended down into the dungeon. 

"Hey! Wait up! I'm sure you're anxious to get down there, but I'm coming, too!" Ginny and Cassie stopped and waited for a minute for the slightly out-of-breath girl to catch up with them. 

"Hi, Elspeth. You may not want to be near me today in class. I have a feeling I'm going to be a lightning rod for all Snape's grouchiness." 

"What's a lightning rod?" 

"Um. I just mean he's going to be focusing all the bad stuff at me and anyone around me is going to get it, too." 

"I'll take my chances. After all, Ginny and I have been dealing with it for six years. Trust me. We're used to it. You might be his target today, but by next time, it'll be someone else." Cassie seriously doubted this. She had a feeling that she was going to be the target as long as she was in the class. She could only hope this was her last time. The girls stopped outside the classroom as Cassie took her bookbag from Ginny. 

"I better check and make sure I've got everything." She had a sudden terror that she had left the Snackboxes back up in her dorm room. If she didn't have them, she honestly did not know what she was going to do. Elspeth and Ginny waited patiently as she looked into one of the pockets to see the four Snackboxes safely where they were supposed to be. 

"Okay. I'm all right. Let's go." She took a deep calming breath, forced herself to think of home, and walked through the door. The room fell immediately silent as the three girls entered. Professor Snape was already in the front of the class and he looked rather pointedly at the clock as they took their places. Cassie didn't even bother to sit next to Ginny. She knew where she belonged and since Niles was sitting next to an empty chair she walked resolutely to the front of the class and sat down. 

"Hi."

"Hello. Are you ready for this today?" She shook her head and tried not to look at the front. She could feel the professor's eyes on her and she didn't dare look toward him in case their eyes accidentally met. She wasn't sure how long he would have to look at her to read her mind but she didn't want to take any chances. The bell rang and she reached into the bag and pulled out parchment and quill, arranging them carefully on the table before she looked around, hoping he had lost interest in staring at the top of her head. 

"Good afternoon, class." His voice was pleasant but underneath Cassie could feel an element of anger she knew was aimed at her and she tried not to flinch. "As you know, I had fully intended to test some Veritaserum on some of you today so that you could get used to its administration. It is quite tricky and requires a careful touch. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen this class period." Cassie almost collapsed in happy relief, but she tried not to show it on her face as she concentrated very hard on a spot on the wall immediately to the left of Professor Snape's ear. It seemed to be moving and she thought it might be a spider. 

"I have been asked by Madam Pomfrey to brew her an extremely large batch of Pepper-up Potion as she expects the cold season to be extremely harsh in the next few weeks. I would have my other classes brew it, but they are incompetent and this is a potion which insists on delicate handling. The 7th years could do it, but they are not available right now. So, despite all my efforts to dissuade her or to assign the task to another class, it is up to you. However, be prepared for next class period. You can be assured that we will be learning to administer Veritaserum. There is no question of it at all." 

Cassie looked down at her parchment and then back up at him. She knew that if she appeared frightened or worried, he would jump on her. She needed to be confident or at least project confidence even if inside she had no idea of what he was even talking about. "Miss Spencer." Oh, dang. It hadn't worked. "Perhaps you can tell us the ingredients necessary for a batch of Pepper-up Potion." 

"No. I'm sorry, sir. I can't." 

"Not even one?" 

"No."

"Hmm. And why is that?"

"I didn't study the potion before class today." 

"But certainly you've used it or seen it in the past?" Cassie thought fast. If it was to help with colds, it was probably pretty commonly used. 

"I have used it, certainly, but I didn't ask for its ingredients when my mother gave it to me." There was a small smattering of laughter around the room which was silenced immediately as Snape threw a glare at the offending students. 

"Ten points from Gryffindor, then." Cassie grimaced but sat quietly. Another student was able to list all the ingredients necessary and Cassie listened with some detached interest. 

"Miss Spencer." Oh, great. What now? 

"Yes, sir?" 

"Don't you think you should be writing these ingredients down?" Cassie looked up at him, meeting his eyes for a brief second. She glanced at Niles' parchment which was still blank as well as the table next to theirs. Neither of those students even had parchment even in view. 

"No one else is, sir. I assumed you would put them on the board again as you did last time." 

"But all the other students in this class know the ingredients, Miss Spencer. Why should they be forced to write what they already have in their heads?" His voice was low and silky, each word carefully articulated so that it carried over the entire classroom and despite herself Cassie felt her face getting warm. This was terrible. No wonder poor Neville had practically had a nervous breakdown in class every time. 

"You're right, sir. I wasn't thinking." 

"Obviously not." He stared at her for another long minute and Cassie wondered if she had somehow missed a part of the conversation. He seemed to be waiting for her to do something but she had no clue what it was. "Well?"

"What, sir?"

"Write down the ingredients. They have been listed for you." She looked frantically up at the board but it was still blank. Oh, he meant by the student. 

"I don't remember them, sir. I'm sorry." 

"You are only proving to me, Miss Spencer, that my concerns about having you in this class were not unfounded, despite your assurances to the contrary. Ten more points from Gryffindor." He waved his wand at the board and the ingredients appeared as well as all the instructions for making the Pepper-up Potion. Cassie read them through carefully. It did seem fairly tricky although not compared to the Veritaserum. 

Niles smiled at her sympathetically as he stood up. "It was inevitable after last week."

"I know. I was expecting it." 

"I'll get the water this time. You can go get the ingredients." Snape was sitting behind his desk now, watching as the students approached his desk for some of the necessary ingredients. She was about to protest. The water would be a lot easier even though it did require a spell. At least the snake head fountain wasn't about to bite her. She wasn't sure about the man at the front of the classroom, though. Ginny was walking toward the front desk and looking frantically toward Cassie. Cassie went up, trying to pretend that their simultaneous arrival at the ingredients was just a coincidence. She parroted Ginny exactly, taking what she took in the same amounts. Ginny didn't say a word to her, just carefully measured and scooped, counted and sorted. She was almost to the end of the row of ingredients when tragedy struck. Ginny accidentally knocked against a beaker of some liquid which then spilled all over the floor. This not only meant more lost points for Gryffindor but it also meant that Ginny was then occupied trying to get it cleaned up rather than finishing retrieving her ingredients. Cassie stood there, looking hopelessly at the next four items, unsure of what to do. Snape was looking at her carefully and Cassie seriously wondered if he could see right through her clothes to her Muggle soul. Ginny was looking quite frantic. 

"Do you need some help, Gin?" Ginny glanced up with some relief, apparently thinking that this was a good idea. If Cassie were to help her, they would get done at the same time which would then make getting the rest of the ingredients easier. 

"She does not need help, Miss Spencer. She managed to spill it herself. Finish getting the ingredients, please. Mr. Caden is waiting." 

"Yes. He is. I think I'll take these back over to the table and then come for the rest in a minute." Snape looked extremely put out at that suggestion but since other students were doing the same thing, probably trying to keep their feet clean from the sticky liquid that was now blocking their way to the rest of the desk, he couldn't really forbid her to do so. She carefully carried her ingredients over to Niles who had started the fire and was chatting nonchalantly with the boy who had been his lab partner until last class period. He looked up as she came over and the two of them laid out the ingredients carefully in the order they would be needed for the potion. 

"We're missing a few ingredients, here." 

"Yeah. I'll go get them when Ginny finishes cleaning up. It's a real mess over there." Elspeth, in order to avoid further delay on their potion, had made her way to the front of the room and Cassie practically ran up to meet her. Elspeth gathered up the last four ingredients but she wasn't being careful to measure or count where Cassie could watch so Cassie had to kind of guess on some of the amounts. Yes, it was true that the board listed the amounts of each ingredient, but the beakers, bowls, and boxes at the front of the classroom were not labeled and despite herself, she had no idea which of the powders was bitterroot and which was pepper dust. She supposed that if she had been working with these ingredients for years, it would be obvious that the light brown was one and the light gray was the other, but . . . it wasn't. She just hoped that she had been able to follow Elspeth's lead well enough. She carried her ingredients over to Niles and they finished getting things set up. 

This potion didn't require as many disgusting things to be chopped up or shredded as their previous effort, so within a fairly short amount of time, the potion, a noxious green color at the moment, was boiling. "That needs to simmer for about 10 minutes and then we'll add the pepper dust. That's what gives it it's kick, you know?" He smiled broadly at her and she smiled back, very nervous. Pepper dust was one of the ingredients she had been unsure of and now that she knew it was the light brown powder, she couldn't remember if that had been what she got 60 cc of or not. 

"Does that look like the right amount?" 

"Yeah. It looks good. Did you measure carefully?"

"Well . . . yeah, but-"

"I wanted to apologize again for Friday."

"What about it?" Cassie was trying desperately to reconstruct what she had done at the front to remember if she had actually gotten the right amounts of the different ingredients, but she just couldn't remember. Well, it was going to have to do.

"I could tell that you thought I sicced Draco on you, but that actually isn't what happened." 

Oh, yeah. Friday. "He said that you mentioned me." 

"I did. But he had already noticed you. Everyone was talking about you at the table when he came in. He took one look at you and started talking badly about you."

"That doesn't surprise me." 

"He said you were hot looking but were probably a mudblood or half-breed.. I told him you were actually a cousin of the Weasleys and he looked . . . well, more interested. Then he asked me how I knew this and someone else volunteered that we had been lab partners. I tried to dissuade him from going over, telling him that you seemed nice and that you were really smart. He seems to like to date with girls who aren't quite so bright." 

"Ah." That didn't actually surprise her very much. 

"Anyway he said a couple of other crude things about you and then he headed over there. I considered trying to stop him but his goons were egging him on and I knew . . . well. I knew it wouldn't do any good." And, thought Cassie, since you are not one who is willing to do something difficult just because it is the right thing, you didn't even try to stop him, did you? But she didn't say anything. 

"He's really disgusting, you know?"

"He comes from a really good family."

"That, Niles, is a matter of personal opinion. And I don't agree with yours."

"They're old wizarding blood -"

"I'm well aware of his family connections, thank you. But that doesn't change my opinion. If anything, it just makes me angrier. They have everything, but . . . . "

"We'd better add the pepper dust." She had known, known on some subconscious level, that she had assumed pepper dust would be black. It made sense. And she had gotten the two measurements mixed up. And you couldn't tell to look because the difference between 60 cc and 75 cc would be almost undetectable to the naked eye. But the potion knew. And five minutes later, Snape declared it a total disaster, waved his wand, emptied their cauldron, and insisted that they tell him what they had done wrong. 

"It was my fault, Professor Snape. I mis-measured the pepper dust. Niles had nothing to do with it." 

"Then you will be serving detention tonight, alone. That's fair, isn't it, Miss Spencer?" 

"Yes, sir. I believe so." Detention. Ron had said that it usually involved scrubbing floors and things and even though that didn't seem very fun it didn't sound as terrifying as being whipped or something, which she had seriously thought was a possibility before yesterday. 

"Seven o'clock, then?"

"Yes, sir. I'll be here." 

"See that you are." And he turned to stalk over to another student who was having trouble with their potion, but not before Cassie saw a very smug little grin on his face. He was pleased as punch that he had managed to trip her up. As long as someone was happy.

"I'm sorry, Niles. It was my fault. I thought I'd messed that up."

"It's okay. That happens every once in a while. Grades hinge more on the tests than the everyday work so it won't matter for me. Now for you, I don't know since the year is almost half over."

"I'm not too worried. My parents won't care. They just . . . want me to be safe. That's the important thing." 

"That must be nice. No pressure. Although I'd think that if they want you to get a decent job, they might at least care a little." Cassie was about to answer when there was yet another ruckus raised over at Ginny and Elspeth's table. "What is with Weasley today? She's usually not clumsy. She's got her share of problems, it's true but that's not one of them." 

Cassie grimaced again. She knew what was happening. Ginny was trying to earn herself a detention, thinking that they could serve it together tonight. She tried to send Ginny subconscious messages that it wasn't worth it, but they weren't getting through. It was finally Snape who made Elspeth a lot happier by putting an end to Ginny's attempts to screw her potion up badly. "Miss Weasley, it is obvious what you are doing. But I can assure you that you will not be in detention with your cousin tonight. If you continue, you will be here the rest of the week, but not tonight." 

"I don't understand what you are talking about." Ginny tried to bluff, but the rest of the class passed without further incident although she did send apologetic looks toward Cassie periodically. Niles and Cassie didn't even talk much because they had to do essays on what they had done wrong and the correct way to make Pepper-up Potion and thought they might as well get a head start on it during the rest of class. 

"Your handwriting is terrible, Pia. No offense or anything."

"None taken. It is really bad." She briefly thought of offering some stupid explanation like she had broken her hand or something but decided not to. Bad liars give too much information, remember, she told herself. 

"I don't even know if Snape will accept that for a grade. I suggest you rewrite it." 

"Oh, I will. This is just a rough draft. I'll have to make it to the library before next class and get some information anyway. But I guess not tonight." It seemed like an eternity before the class finally ended and she was able to gather up her things and walk back to meet Ginny at the door. 

"Bad luck, Pia. I've got to run." Elspeth took off immediately, leaving Ginny and Cassie standing out in the hall looking at each other. 

"Come on. We've got a really long hike ahead of us. Divination is all the way in the furthest corner of the castle up about a million staircases. Why they put these classes back to back is a big mystery to me." The two girls walked along in silence for a few minutes as the other students in the class passed them by or called out sympathetic greetings to them. It was not until they were completely alone that Ginny finally had a chance to apologize for the entire fiasco. 

"I know you didn't mean to, Ginny. Don't worry about it." 

"Well, it was just a huge disaster. And I know I caused the whole problem." 

"I should have asked Elspeth, I guess, but I thought it might be suspicious." 

"It probably would have been. You did the right thing, despite how it turned out. I just . . . detention seems a bit harsh of a punishment. You didn't blow anything up." 

"He was looking for any excuse to give me detention, Ginny. If I'd have sneezed funny and he could have gotten away with it, he would have done the same thing." 

"Yeah. You're probably right. I'm just nervous that he is so insistent on having you alone tonight. What do you think that's about?" 

"Do you want me to tell you the truth?"

"Of course." 

"He's going to try that mind reading thing on me."

"What?!!! He wouldn't dare!"

"Why not? He's desperate to figure me out. He knows something isn't what it seems." 

"You can't go tonight, then. We'll tell Dumbledore and he'll run interference." 

"I want to go tonight. Truthfully . . . even though I know it's going to be dangerous, I almost am looking forward to seeing what he can do. He doesn't scare me, even though he tries hard. I just won't let him do it. I'll ask Harry for some pointers or something." 

"Ask Harry, but I'm pretty sure he'll agree with me. You really can't go tonight. Maybe we could. . . No. That wouldn't work. I'll talk to Hermione, but I think our best bet is to go directly to Dumbledore." Cassie didn't say anything else. It was dangerous to all of them and if they all agreed that someone had to prevent her from serving detention, than she would go along with their wishes. She was anxious to find out more about what made the man tick, but if it was too risky, than it was too risky. 

Ginny smiled as they started up a seemingly endless flight of stairs a few minutes later. "Hey. Maybe we can consult tea leaves or something in this next class to figure out what you should do tonight!" 

"Wha'dya mean, Gin?" 

"We're going to Divination. That means predicting the future, you know? Tea leaves, crystal balls, palm reading, the usual. Trelawney calls it 'Consulting the Inner Eye.' Maybe we can predict whether it's safe for you to go." 

"I hope you're kidding." 

"I'm not kidding about the class, but I am kidding about trusting anything we can 'predict.' Trelawney's a big fraud and the entire class is ridiculous. I wouldn't be taking it at all if it weren't for the other one."

"The other what?" But then they were there, climbing a narrow silver stepladder up to a round trapdoor in the ceiling and there was no more time to talk. 


	25. Divination and Dinner

Chapter 25

Divination and Dinner

Ginny pushed the trapdoor open and climbed through with Cassie close on her heels. As soon as Cassie looked around though, she wanted nothing more than to climb back down. The room was absolutely stifling and the humidity pressed down on her like a weight. It was dark in there, too, and she squinted to see Ginny as she moved away from her. 

"Come on, Pia. Let's go sit down."

"Do we have to?" Ginny laughed. Cassie wasn't trying to be funny, though. Her robes were starting to stick to her after just these first few seconds. Plus, the room smelled funny. She actually thought the Potions room smelled better than this one. And right now she thought she would really rather be down in the dungeons with Snape than in this extremely hot dark box. But, she sat on some sort of cushion and waited to find out if Ginny had been kidding about this telling the future thing. Meanwhile, her eyes adjusted to the dim reddish light and she looked around. 

The room was completely different than any of the other classrooms she had been in up to that point. There were small round tables crammed into the space. It would have been crowded with half as many. There were small cushions at each of the tables like the one she was sitting on and also the occasional winged armchair. There were lights in the room, but there were some scarves over them so they didn't really give off much light. The curtains were drawn over the window and there was, unbelievable as it was, a fire in the grate with a kettle over it. Cassie thought that the kettle was probably the source of the fumes permeating the room. She felt a headache coming on and concentrated hard on pushing it back. It was only an hour, how bad could it be? 

A moment later, the professor walked into the room. She was as different from all the other professors Cassie had seen as this room was different from the standard classroom. She was a thin woman with dark hair, dressed in strange looking robes of various colors, none of which looked like they matched. But the most prominent feature, the one that your eyes were immediately drawn to, were the huge glasses on her small face. It made her face look strangely proportioned, almost like a bug. Her hands moved nervously through the air as she looked around the classroom like she was assuring herself that the students were actually there. 

"My dears, my dears. We are going to start . . ." Her eyes latched onto Cassie and she looked her over carefully. Everyone in the classroom turned and followed her gaze. The group was small, but still having all those eyes on her made Cassie quite nervous. The students looked foreign in the dark and Cassie couldn't really recognize anyone. "Oh, my dear. The dear Headmaster told me to expect a new student but of course I already knew of your eminent arrival. Yes, I saw your image in my crystal ball some weeks ago and knew another student would be joining us. In fact, I believe I mentioned this to the students." Ginny snorted but one of the girls at the front, who Cassie thought sounded suspiciously like Hermione's roommate Lavender agreed with her.

"Yes, Professor Trelawney. Remember, you said that we would need the extra chairs because more students were bound to join us." There were various exclamations of surprise throughout the classroom. 

"Yes, my dear, of course, of course. I remember it so clearly." The professor approached the table where Cassie and Ginny were sitting. She bent close and Cassie tried hard to keep from drawing back. The woman smelled strongly of some perfume and an overlaying scent of what Cassie suspected was sherry. "Do you know anything about the Inner Eye, my dear?" 

"Um, no. Sorry." 

"Ah, pity. You look like you might have a gift . . . have you ever foretold the future?"

"No. Sorry." 

"Well, no matter. You will learn all you need to develop your talents here in this classroom. Although, the gift of foresight seems to run scarce in the Weasley family . . . I hope that you take after your mother, my dear." Ginny snorted again and the woman looked at her like a normal person would look at a rather smelly piece of cheese. 

"Could your mother foretell the future? Perhaps her gift has alighted upon your shoulders?" She ignored Ginny again. 

"I do seem to remember her saying something about my grandmother having a talent for that . . ." Cassie tried to be vague. It was actually a family joke that her grandmother could tell what was going to happen if her kids kept misbehaving and it always involved their hind ends being paddled, but the teacher didn't have to know that. 

"Oh, my dear. I knew when I first saw you that you have a gift."

"Thanks. I'll do my best, Professor." 

The professor did not acknowledge her but drifted again to the middle of the classroom where she continued as though she had never been interrupted. " . . . something new today. I wonder if any of you have read your texts about it."

"You didn't tell us what it would be, Professor Trelawney." Ginny had raised her hand and spoke out quickly. 

"Of course not, my dear. You were to consult your own inner eye and discern what we would be learning today. Did anyone do it properly?" No one raised their hand. Apparently, although they had been taking this class for several years, none of them had yet gotten in touch enough with their inner eye to guess what weird subject they would be studying. Cassie rolled her eyes at Ginny, who smiled in return. 

"Phrenology my dears, phrenology. I'm surprised none of you figured it out. Do any of you know what it is?" There was again no one who raised their hands. The Professor then launched into a very long and rambling explanation about how the various bumps on someone's head could tell their personality, strengths, weaknesses, and with the understanding magic brought to the science, could also predict their future. Cassie felt herself getting sleepier and sleepier as the soft voice droned on and on. She felt her eyes drifting shut and fought to force them open. She glanced over at Ginny and found that she was looking as sleepy as Cassie was feeling. She wanted desperately to stand up and stretch, thinking that this might wake her up and let her not embarrass herself by falling off her little poof. She glanced down at her watch, squinting to bring the numbers into focus. Thirty more minutes. Certainly, they had already been here for three hours. She honestly didn't know how much longer she could keep her eyes open. She actually did drift off at one point and only woke up because she felt herself starting to slip off the chair. 

She jerked and opened her eyes. She obviously hadn't slept terribly long because the teacher was still droning and Ginny didn't look like she had moved very much. Cassie glanced around at the other students. They all looked peacefully relaxed but none of them looked like they were about to sleep. Maybe they actually understood what Professor Trelawney was saying. To Cassie, it was all a bunch of gibberish. Suddenly, though, her lecture stopped and there was general movement around the class. A chart appeared at the front of the class and both Ginny and Cassie shifted trying to see it. The light improved slightly so that they could actually read the writing on it and both of them tried to write down the complicated instructions. 

The professor approached a few moments later. "Now, my dears, my dears, I would like you to try to read each other's skulls. My dear, Miss Spencer, isn't it, please allow me to help you interpret your cousins phrenological faculties. It will give me a good glimpse at your connection to your inner eye, you see." 

"Okay." Cassie stood up, glancing around at the other students. This was very odd looking and she was glad that it was Ginny she was doing this to and not some stranger. "Um, all right. I think I start here." 

"Yes, yes. Of course, it would be easier if you did this." Professor Trelawney helped Cassie put her hands on Ginny's head, feeling the curve of the back of her skull. "Now, what do you feel?" 

"She has a rather large bump there. I think that means . . ." Cassie glanced down at the paper on the table. " . . .she has courage to meet danger and overcome difficulties." Professor Trelawney pursed her lips. 

"It can also mean she loves to argue. I daresay that is more likely the explanation in her case." Cassie tried not to laugh at the disapproval of the Weasleys that Professor Trelawney exuded. "Any other obvious bumps there?" 

"Ah, yes. There's a bump here behind her right ear that means she is prudent and good at keeping secrets." Cassie didn't mention that it also meant she was a good liar. It was obvious that Trelawney thought that, though, because if it was possible her lips got tighter. 

"And what of her future? What do we learn about that from these two bumps?" Cassie couldn't tell from what she had written on her paper so she stood there feeling a little foolish. Finally, she said, "That she will live a long happy life, overcoming all difficulties on the way." 

"Oh, well. I am sorry to say, my dear, that I think you have not inherited your grandmother's capability to see the future. Those two bumps together are almost certain indicator of an early painful death. I fear she may not live to even finish school. Well, you continue, please. And Miss Weasley, dear, please take a turn with your cousin also." 

The teacher drifted off to another table, and Ginny started laughing quietly into her hand. "That was so funny!"

"What?" 

"Well, I think the bump on the back of my head has nothing to do with my overcoming difficulties or predicting an early death. It has to do with a Bludger which connected firmly with the back of my head at last night's Quidditch practice." They both laughed together, sniffling, trying not to be heard at the other tables. 

"But she predicted your death. Doesn't that scare you?"

"Not at all. She predicts everyone's death. The more painfully the better. Trust me. In the three years Harry had this class, she predicted his eminent death at least 25 times and he and Ron predicted their own even more than that." The class ended a few minutes later. All of the students complained as they walked down the hall about the long homework assignment she had given during the last few minutes of class. 

"Make a chart of your own head, listing all the phrenological faculties and organs and what these tell you about your personality and your future. Please be honest, my dears, for I can see your futures before my eyes and I will know if you attempt to lie." 

"She caught on to Ron and Harry two years ago," Ginny explained. "They just made up terrible things that were going to happen to them. Ron always said that the more depressing and bloody their deaths, the happier Trelawney was with their assignments. So now she threatens everyone that she can tell if they're lying, but she really can't." 

"Pia, you have to understand that the Weasleys have no gift for this. Professor Trelawney is brilliant. She is always right if you will just open your eyes to see." Lavender Brown had come up behind them and with this pronouncement, she pushed past them and continued down the hall. 

"She doesn't seem too impressed with me." Cassie felt really bad. It seemed that she and Lavender were bumping heads constantly and she was pretty sure that Lavender really hated her. 

"She loves Trelawney. I don't really understand why but she seems convinced that she is really able to see the future." They walked along for a few more minutes and before long, they slipped through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room. "Let's go on upstairs. I want to get rid of these books." Cassie agreed happily and the two girls started up the set of stairs. 

"Honestly. By the end of the day, Ginny, my legs feel like they're going to fall off. Will I ever get used to this?"

"Sure. Just in time to leave." Ginny pushed open the door. "What a day! I wish it were Friday already."

"I wish it was Saturday. But I've still got to write back to George and I want to do that today." 

"Do it before Astronomy tonight. We can still send it out."

"I don't think that will work. I've got detention at 7."

"I know. You'll be done by 9 or 10. That gives you plenty of time. And I'll even have time to add on a nice little addendum telling my stupid brother how ticked I am." Cassie didn't have time to answer that before another owl flew in through the window, dropping a note to Ginny. Ginny picked it up and opened it. She started to laugh. "Here. This is for you." She handed a fairly small piece of parchment to Cassie. She recognized the handwriting immediately and wasn't sure she wanted to read the note. It was from George again, of course, and Cassie was nervous that he would have once again given Ginny a reason to ban him from Hogsmeade. 

But she was wrong. 

Dear Pia,

Fred threatened my life when I told him what I had written to you. I did get carried away and I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking very clearly when I wrote the last letter. Please forgive me.

Your cousin, George. 

"What does yours say?" 

"It basically tells me that he is sure you showed me the letter and that he's sorry he was so stupid. I'm supposed to write and tell him if you're really mad at him." 

"You don't need to do that. I'll write him and tell him."

"I'll write him. Don't worry about that." 

"Ginny, promise you won't say anything to . . . hurt his feelings." 

"Hurt his feelings? Are you kidding? What would I say that would hurt George's feelings?" 

"Well, if you told him I was upset with him or something." 

"He was an idiot and I intend to tell him so. And before you can threaten me, I'm going to write it while you're scrubbing cauldron bottoms or something so you'll have no way to censor it." 

"Ginny . . . come on. Please. Maybe you'll . . ."

"What?"

"Scare him off. Make him hate me. Make him not want to come on Saturday."

"I thought you knew my brother? Don't worry. He'll do what he wants do no matter what I say. If I could scare him off that quickly, he wouldn't have gotten into nearly as much trouble when he was here at school, let me tell you." Cassie still felt uncomfortable with the idea of having Ginny write George but she was absolutely right that there was nothing she could do to stop her. Maybe it was for the best anyway. The last letter had been a little bit dangerous. All right. A lot dangerous. He couldn't do that again. Even though it was so sweet. Stupid maybe, but very sweet. She loved the idea that George cared so much what she was doing and wanted to kiss her. They hadn't really been that kissy and huggy when they had seen each other. But she knew he had wanted to. And truthfully, she wanted to, also. Of course, first she was going to have to break a rather big piece of news to him which may completely put an end to that. She hoped not, but it was something she had to consider as a possibility, a likely possibility. 

"Okay. You're probably right."

"Of course I'm right. Don't worry. He obviously really likes you. I can assure you . . ." Ginny stopped talking as Saffron walked into the room. 

"Hey, you two. How was your day?"

"Not so good," Cassie admitted. "I wound up with detention tonight with Snape." 

"Ooh. That's yucky. Too bad. Be prepared to scrub something nasty. The man likes to see people suffer." 

"So I've heard."

"The last time I had detention, I had to scrub all the tables in the classroom. And I couldn't use magic."

"He always takes my wand," Ginny agreed. "He never lets us use magic in detention." Cassie listened to this with interest and it made her feel much better. At least he wouldn't be expecting her to start magicking things across the room. "I'm starved. Let's go on down and see if Harry, Ron, and Hermione are ready for dinner. I think we're supposed to have roast chicken tonight."

They waited a few minutes for Saffron and then the three of them descended the dorm stairs to the common room. Harry and Ron were sitting in a corner and Ron smiled at the three girls. "Pia. Ginny. Are you ready to eat?"

"Yes. I'm starved and I think Pia is, too." 

"I am." 

"Hey, there's all sorts of rumors circulating about you, Pia, and what happened in Potions."

"Again? You'd think people would have thought of something else to talk about by now."

"Are you kidding? There were actual betting pools about whether you'd manage to get out of there without detention this time."

"That's great to know. I suppose that means I lost you money, huh, Ron?" Cassie watched with fascination as Ron's face turned a bright pink. 

"Um. Well, uh, no."

"What's wrong?" Cassie was genuinely puzzled why he'd be embarrassed. If he hadn't bet, he hadn't bet. 

"He won money. He bet against you." Harry informed the girls with a certain amount of glee. 

"You have got to be kidding me! That's family loyalty for you!" Cassie was genuinely shocked at this. Ron had bet she'd get detention? Harry was laughing and Ron was looking even more chagrined than he had before. Ginny was laughing, too, as was Saffron. Cassie just felt indignant. "That's just fantastic, Ron!" She hoped he could hear the sarcasm in her voice. "You're going to have buy me lunch on Saturday because I have been the cause now of two windfalls for you." 

"You're right, Pia. I definitely owe you. It was some of those 10 Galleons that I bet on you. So now I've got 14 Galleons for Hogsmeade on Saturday." 

"Great. I'm thrilled for you. Where's Hermione anyway?" 

"She'll meet us down there. She said that she had something to do before dinner."

"All right. Let's go, then. I'm starved." They all started down the stairs, Ginny and Harry still laughing periodically about Ron betting against Cassie. Cassie really wasn't amused but she couldn't help but smile at their obvious enjoyment of her discomfort. As they got down to the Great Hall, Saffron met a friend and waved good-bye to the group. Cassie grabbed Harry's arm. "Harry, I really need to ask you a question."

"Sure. What's going on?" Cassie started to explain her suspicions about Professor Snape using this evening's detention to read her mind, at least to some degree. 

"Ginny said that you take lessons on how to block someone from reading your mind and I thought maybe you could give me some pointers." 

"Did she also tell you that I'm taking those lessons from Snape?" Harry sounded extremely agitated and he looked like he was about to explode. 

"Yeah, now that you mention it, she did say that." 

"Did she mention that I've been studying it for three years?"

"I don't remember her saying that."

"Well, I have been. There's no way I can give you pointers right now or even in two hours that are going to keep Snape out of your mind if he wants to be there! That's the craziest thing I've ever heard!" 

"I told her we need to go right to Dumbledore and tell him what Snape wants to do and insist that if she even has to serve detention it is with somebody else!" Ginny interrupted. 

"That's probably our best bet, uh, Pia. Dumbledore will hopefully be able to put the slimy git in his place." 

"Harry, Ginny, I appreciate it. Do you really think that's the best way to go?"

"Definitely. Let's go right after dinner. What time are you supposed to go to detention?"

"Seven." 

"All right. Let's go eat. Dumbledore may even be in there and we can talk to him right now." 

As it turned out, Snape was sitting there at the front table, right next to Dumbledore as was his habit and they didn't have a chance to ask about getting Cassie out of detention. However, Harry managed to brave Snape's dark glares and asked Dumbledore for a meeting in his office after dinner. Cassie couldn't hear what was being said, but she could tell Snape looked very unhappy and Harry looked equally angry. Dumbledore nodded and Harry hurried back to the table. "I can't believe he would have the gall to tell me I shouldn't be bothering the Headmaster. He has no right to tell me any such thing." 

"That sounds like something he'd say, though," Ginny said. 

Hermione joined them a few minutes later and she looked extremely concerned when Harry told both her and Ron what was going on. "You're definitely doing the right thing. Dumbledore won't let you have to go to detention with Snape. I'm sure of it. But I want to come to this meeting, just in case he needs a little more convincing." 

"You don't need to come, Hermione. I'm sure -"

"No. I'm coming. I'm sick of being left out of these discussions. After all, I'm the main one that's figuring out how to keep her safe." This was whispered in a very loud stage whisper and Ron shushed his girlfriend quickly. 

"Hermione. I'm sure Harry doesn't want to leave you out of the meeting. He just doesn't want to be too conspicuous." She seemed appeased at this thought and dug into dinner with gusto. 

"I'll hurry. We better get up there as soon as we can." It was about 15 minutes later that the five of them left the Great Hall and started up the stairs toward Dumbledore's office. Cassie was glad to leave. She had heard a lot of whispers about her as she ate and she imagined that they all had to do with what had happened in Potions class. Apparently, a lot of people were disappointed that she had gotten in trouble this time, although, according to Elspeth, they weren't surprised. Fortunately, Draco didn't come to dinner at the same time they were eating, so that made her meal a little more pleasant. She wasn't sure she could have dealt with him as well as everything else she had to worry about tonight. The stone gargoyle leapt aside to Harry's call of "Mars Bars" and they all stood on the circular stairs as they slowly rotated upward toward the Headmaster's office. 


	26. The Requisite Detention with Snape

Chapter 26

The Requisite Detention with Snape

The headmaster wasn't in the office when they entered and they stood looking around a little as they waited. Cassie wasn't sure if he had a way of knowing they were there or if they should ring a bell or something. No one else seemed to concerned. She glanced at her watch. It was almost six which meant they had less than an hour to do whatever it was they were going to do. Strangely, she wasn't feeling particularly nervous about this detention. After all, she had scrubbed pots many times and doing it without magic didn't sound as bad to her as it obviously did to everyone else. She was only nervous about the mind-reading thing as she didn't want Snape to find about her if it was going to be dangerous for her or anyone else. 

A few moments later, Professor Dumbledore entered the office, smiling at all of them. "I see that all five of you are here. You must obviously be here on some important business. What can I do for you?" 

"It's about Pia, Professor." 

"Of course. How are you doing, Miss Spencer? Are you enjoying school so far?" Cassie nodded, thinking that this was a rather strange question. She was hiding, after all, not here on an exchange program. "I have heard you discussed almost any time there are two students or teachers together. I am very impressed at how well you are doing pretending to be a witch. Not only is everyone convinced you are magical but they all seem to feel you are extremely powerful."

"It's all thanks to Hermione. She's brilliant." The Headmaster's eyes twinkled at that.

"Yes. That's true. And she seems to be enjoying this foray into the world of tricking the Professors." 

"It's actually one professor in particular, sir, that we have come to talk to you about." Harry apparently felt that this conversation was not moving fast enough, because he interrupted the casual conversation with his comment. 

"That would be, I must assume, Professor Snape."

"Yes. He gave Pia detention and she thinks it is so he can do Legilemency on her." 

"That's true. I'm quite sure you're right." He didn't say anything else and Cassie could feel the frustration coming off Harry in waves. 

"Well? What are we going to do?" 

"I don't think there is anything I can do. I do not interfere in detentions. If I were to do so in this case, it would be extremely strange." 

"But -"

"Harry. I know how you feel about Professor Snape, but you always seem to forget that he is, after all, on our side. He is in the Order and I can assure you that if he were to discover Miss Spencer's secret, he would guard it with his life. As would any professor here at the school." 

"But-"

"He is working very hard with the rest of us trying to discover all we can about this meeting. The only thing he does not know is how we found about the gathering in the first place. He is completely trustworthy-"

"But if that's true, why didn't you tell the professors about Pia to begin with? It would be a lot easier if they knew, especially Snape and McGonagall." Ron interrupted, obviously very frustrated at Dumbledore's statements, and Harry looked no happier. In fact, his face was setting into a definite scowl. 

"Ron's right, Professor. It would have made our life a lot easier." 

"Professor Snape and Professor McGonagall are completely trustworthy, but it is certainly easier to treat Miss Spencer the same as they do any other student if they are convinced that she is a witch."

"So this whole thing is just so they don't have to pretend?" Hermione seemed incredulous. "I thought you said that no one could know besides the seven or eight of us who had to help her. Now you say that it's all right if every one of the professors is in on the secret, too?" Everyone was nodding, now, not understanding what Professor Dumbledore was talking about.

"Obviously, I would rather he not find out. Despite his best efforts, he just would not treat her the same and the same would be true for Professor McGonagall. So, of course, Miss Spencer, if you can avoid the-"

"Professor! That doesn't even make sense! She can't avoid it. I can't avoid it and he's supposedly been teaching me how!"

"Harry. Please. I think you underestimate Miss Spencer's abilities. Trust her. She will do her best to avoid his using Legilemency on her. She has managed so far."

"But that was in a class of several students, not when it was just the two of them!" 

"If I just don't look in his eyes, though, it should be all right, shouldn't it?" Harry made an exasperated noise and everyone else was looking quite panicked. 

"That would certainly help."

"It never helps me, Professor!"

"Harry. I think you underestimate how well you actually do keeping Professor Snape out of your mind and you are letting all your frustration over it taint your opinion of Miss Spencer's chances tonight. Severus was telling me just last week that he is extremely impressed with how well you can repel him." 

"What?!"

"He has to work harder and harder to pull things out of your mind, Harry. He told me that he has even had to practice some new techniques to break through the barriers you erect. I think you have just assumed that he is doing the same thing now as he did three years ago." Harry looked flabbergasted. 

"Well, uh, yeah. I guess I did. He always does exactly the same thing." 

"Hmm. Well, I think he doesn't want to give you the satisfaction of knowing how hard he is working. Truthfully, the two of you are -"

"Professor. Please. Can we get back to Pia, now?" Hermione was looking at the clock on the wall, which now said 6:15. 

"Yes, of course. She'll be fine. Try to keep him out of your mind, Miss Spencer. But know that if he should find out about you, he'll talk to me and I will fill him in on the entire charade. Don't worry." He smiled at her again. "Would you like to hear what progress is being made about the meeting?"

"Yes, of course." Cassie felt a lot better now. She wondered vaguely about the animosity between Harry and the Potions Master. If he was actually on Harry's side, why did they all hate him so much? And why did he seem to like the Slytherins so much when everyone knew they were all on the bad side? That didn't make sense. But then she lost interest as Professor Dumbledore launched into a recitation of the most recent findings about the wizards who had been at the meeting. 

"We've got our insider in the office of the Prime Minister as we had hoped. She is posing as the secretary and will for as long as necessary. So, your father now has someone to help him if he needs it and there is someone there to keep an eye on the Prime Minister." 

"But what happened to the actual secretary? You didn't, um, kill her or anything did you?"

Professor Dumbledore looked slightly shocked. "Of course we didn't kill her! What makes you think we would have done that?"

"I just wondered how you are keeping her from coming to work every morning . . . I mean, I couldn't think of what . . . . Sorry." 

"We simply told her she had won an all-expense paid vacation and then set up a temporary employee to fill in for her. She just does not know that the temporary employee will look and act exactly like her." 

Cassie was extremely embarrassed although she was grateful that the new secretary was in place. Dumbledore spoke for quite a few minutes about what progress they had made, which did not seem to be very much. They had eliminated a few more people from the list of possible attendees and were busy tracking down a few others who they suspected might be involved. "But basically, Miss Spencer, if you remember anything or have any thoughts, please come to me immediately. Even the smallest clue that to you would mean nothing might mean a great deal to us."

"I will, sir. I promise."

"I appreciate that. You probably should get going. You don't want to be late for a detention. It would only get you into more trouble." Cassie glanced up at the clock. He was right. She only had 20 minutes now before she was supposed to be down in the dungeons. Ginny walked down with her but as they descended further and further toward the dungeons, the more and more nervous Cassie got. 

"Does it . . . hurt?"

"What? Detention with Snape?" Ginny laughed although Cassie suspected that she actually knew what she was asking. "No. Seriously. I don't think it does. It bothers Harry but that's because he has to fight it. I think you wouldn't really notice if he was able to do it." 

"Oh." Somehow, though, that didn't make her feel any better. "Does he see everything at once? I mean, would he know everything I've ever thought about?" 

"You should have asked Harry this. I don't know, Pia. I really don't. I'm sorry. But, I know Harry has said a couple of times that Snape still doesn't know about some things, so I don't think that's how it works, really." 

"All right. If I survive, I'll tell you what it's like, okay? Maybe then you can understand Harry a little better." 

"It's a deal, then. Good luck." They had reached the bottom of the stairs and Cassie left Ginny standing there as she approached the classroom door. She knocked softly on the door, cringing as she realized how weak in sounded. She knocked again, more firmly this time. The door opened and she stepped across the threshold. Professor Snape was sitting at his desk, looking at her. Cassie gulped, and remembered what Dumbledore had said. Professor Snape might be mean and grouchy, but in general he was a good person on the right side of this battle. Rightly, she should feel more nervous with Niles Caden, who hated all things Muggle and who was still undecided on the issue of Voldemort, than she should with Professor Snape. But that was hard to remember right now. And it wasn't helped by the fact that Niles could not read her mind. 

"Miss Spencer, come in, please." He sounded almost gleeful and Cassie forced herself to look down at his desk as she walked toward him. 

"Good evening, Professor Snape." 

"Dumbledore wouldn't let you out of detention, I gather." 

"What?" Cassie plastered her innocent and surprised look on her face. It had worked with Professor McGonagall, after all. "I don't know -"

"Please, Miss Spencer. Do you think I am a fool? Your little group of lackeys was practically bristling with indignation that I would dare assign you detention. And I know that is what Potter wanted to speak to the Headmaster about." 

"No. I-"

"Don't lie to me!!!" 

Cassie gulped. "Well, they were a little nervous about my being here alone tonight. They were afraid I might . . . get into more trouble." 

Snape didn't say anything after that and after a second or two Cassie couldn't help herself. She had to know what he was doing. She glanced up quickly to find his eyes practically drilling holes in the top of her head and they snapped to hers immediately. She quickly glanced back down. Maybe he was doing it already. "Get into more trouble? Why would they think that might happen?" His voice was low and smooth, like dark silk over her skin. But she wasn't fooled by it. That was his most dangerous tone because it showed he was totally in control of himself and that he knew exactly what he was doing. 

"I . . . I think they think you hate me and would try to trick me into messing something up." 

"I see." Cassie noticed with part of her brain that he did not disagree with the statement that he hated her. This was not a surprise. The hate practically radiated off him. He did not take his eyes off her. "Your wand, please, Miss Spencer." She reached into the arm of her robe and pulled out the delicate strip of wood, handing it to him with a grimace. For some reason, which she did not understand, she felt extremely exposed without it. He took the wand out of her hand and looked it over carefully. "Nice. It doesn't look like you have used it very much." Cassie had a sudden spurt of fear. Could you tell if a wand had never been used? Could you somehow see what spells it had actually done? "You must take good care of it, unlike most of your cronies. Their wands are usually a disgrace." 

"Um, well, I like it to look nice." 

"I always appreciate someone who takes care of their possessions." 

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir." 

He laid her wand carefully on his desk. "I'm sure the fabulous four told you that students are never able to use magic in detention with me." 

"Yes, sir. They also told me that I should expect to be scrubbing the floor, cauldrons, tables, or something like that." 

"I think . . . not tonight. I have another task for you. More suited, perhaps, to your certain talents. There is a vat of pickled salamanders in the back. I need their tails removed and diced, their hearts removed intact and their claws cut off. That should keep you busy for the evening." 

Cassie gulped. This was a lot worse than anything she could have possibly imagined. She would much rather scrub the floor, the tables, and the cauldrons altogether than cut up salamanders but she really couldn't back out now. Here she was and she was going to have to suffer with whatever he asked. She walked with some trepidation into the back room where he kept all his ingredients. The vat, fortunately, was not huge, holding probably 100 or so of the ugly dead amphibians. That was enough though. Her stomach turned over at the thought of what she was going to have to do. Maybe it would be better to just march out there and tell him to do his worst. But, taking a deep calming breath, she pulled the heavy container off its shelf and lugged it into the main room. By then, Professor Snape had placed three other containers and a knife on the table right in front of his desk. 

"Hearts, tails, claws," he said, pointing at each of the containers in turn. "Make sure the hearts are intact. They are completely worthless if they are cut." 

"Yes, sir." She sat down and pulled the first lizard out of the liquid and placed it on the cutting board. She looked at it, said a small curse under her breath, and chopped off its tail. She threw it into the correct container and then cut off the claws. Then, she carefully, slit it open and found the heart easily enough and removed it without difficulty. That wasn't so terrible. Her biology teacher would have been impressed, amazed, but impressed. 

She had done the same to five more of the foot-long creatures when Professor Snape finally said something else. "I am curious about you, Miss Spencer. I will admit that." Cassie didn't say anything in response. She tried hard to concentrate on what she was doing, keeping her mind clear of anything other than the lizards. 

She smiled a moment later as a memory floated to the surface of her mind, a very happy memory although it was tinged with pain as well. Harry was holding her that strange day in his hidden house, when Hermione and Ron had been there and she had been crying because she had felt so left out of their conversation. She could see Hermione coming into the kitchen to check on the two of them and feel Harry's arms around her. She paused for a moment in her chopping, remembering that day, wanting to follow the memory until he told her he was a wizard. That would be amusing, knowing all she did now. Then she suddenly stopped. Could this be . . .? She purposely shoved the memory aside, blanking her mind out again, concentrating on the slimy job in front of her. After a moment, she glanced up at Professor Snape again. He didn't say anything, but he was still looking at her with an intense stare. 

A few more tails and claws later, another memory rose to the surface of her mind. This time, she was removing a rolled up piece of parchment from Icharus' leg with her mother looking on. Why was she remembering that? In her mind, she opened the piece of parchment and skimmed it quickly as her mother . . . Again, she shoved the memory aside. This time, she knew it was him doing it. She didn't know how because she hadn't met his eyes once and neither he nor his wand had moved. But she was sure that it was not a coincidence that she was remembering these things that she hadn't thought about for months now. She concentrated hard on her job, trying to keep her mind blank. 

Tail, claws, heart . . . tail, claws, heart. The piles slowly grew and she relaxed under the rhythm of the knife. Suddenly, another memory surfaced. She and George were laughing over his drink, the Terrible Twins' Tonic, and one of the bubbles exploded, splashing the blue liquid onto her chin. She pushed that aside, only to instantly have it replaced with a memory of standing in the ice cream shop, looking at George as he grabbed her shoulders and bent toward her. She pushed back from the table, standing up and shaking her head, desperate to remove the memory of the kiss before he saw it. For now she had no doubt that it was he causing these memories to suddenly come into focus. She raised her head and for the first time met his gaze fully, his black eyes meeting hers in a sudden gasp of realization. Then, she was standing in her living room, Arthur and Remus next to her as she modeled her new uniform, wand clutched tightly in her hand. Then she was in Dumbledore's office . . .the memories were coming faster now and even though she tried as hard as she could to stop them, it was like trying to dam a river with her hands. It was June and she was watching Harry, Ron, and Ginny waiting on their brooms before they flew out the window into battle, . . .she was running over the front lawn of the school, desperate to find Harry, hearing the screaming of the people under Cruciatus . . . she was running down the alley only a week ago, as the curses flew above her head. . . she was hiding in the back of George's shop as the yelling . . .

"Stop it!" She yelled, pulling her eyes away from Professor Snape's. "Stop messing around in my mind!"

"Messing around? What do you mean, Miss Spencer?" But she knew from the half smile on his face that he had seen what she had seen and had been amused. Somehow that angered her more than anything. 

"Do you think I'm a fool?" She parroted back to him what he had asked her earlier. "I know what you're doing! Stop it! You have no right to . . ."

"To what, Miss Spencer? What have I done?" 

"You're trying to read my mind, to do that legitimacy stuff on me!" 

"You mean Legilemency. And if I were, I would not apologize for it."

"Well, you should! You're invading my privacy."

"You don't want me to know about you and Potter? I think we all assumed you met him only a few days ago, but that's not true, is it? And somehow, I think that . . . "

"Stop it! Stop it!" She stared around the room, anxious to find somewhere to fix her eyes before he called up more memories, those that were a lot more dangerous than those he had already seen. But suddenly, their gazes clashed again and she felt as though it were a physical touch, the invasion into her brain. She concentrated hard on pushing him out of it. If he wanted to mess around in her memories, he was going to have to fight her for the privilege. Now she was watching the Quidditch game from Saturday, her heart racing as she watched Harry race toward the ground, then suddenly she knew it was another Quidditch game, one she had never witnessed. There was another dark-haired boy on a broom, flying fast, but this time he had a Quaffle in his hand, flying toward the Slytherin? goal . . . Cassie stared. This wasn't her . . . and then she saw Ginny, no, it couldn't be Ginny, she was older than . . . her red hair flashed in the bright sunlight as she watched the boy from the stands and a feeling of such longing flooded through Cassie that she almost gasped at the pain of it. The girl turned and met her (his?)eyes, a smile on her mouth. Her eyes were the most brilliant shade of green . . . they were Harry's eyes! With a start, as though she had been dropped from a great height and had landed flat on the ground, she realized that she was back in the Potions classroom, staring at Professor Snape and she realized with a horrifying insight that she had actually seen his memories rather than allowing him to see hers. "That was . . . Harry's mother! You knew her . . . you loved . . ."

This time, it was him yelling. "Get out! Get out! Now! Leave this classroom at once!" He was so angry that Cassie was honestly afraid he was going to curse her. All the cool control was gone and he was absolutely livid. She looked quickly at the desk where her wand was sitting. She took a deep breath and approached him to get it and he actually backed up, grabbing her wand and thrusting it at her. "Get out!" She grabbed the wand and turned, running to the door, throwing it open, and stepping out into the hall only a second before the door slammed shut behind her. She leaned against the wall, panting, a headache making itself known in the back of her skull. She didn't even want to try to analyze what had just happened. It was strange. She felt . . . well, she didn't know what she felt. She hadn't meant to pry into his memories. She didn't even know it was possible to do that. But that was certainly what had happened. She stood up, taking a fortifying breath. It was his fault. He was the one who had started it. If he hadn't been poking around in her brain, it never would have happened. She walked through the dark quiet corridors, thinking hard about what Professor Snape had seen, what memories he had been looking at. She also thought for a few minutes about the memory of his that she had seen. Harry's father and mother, obviously. Those eyes were so incredibly green. She went to turn the corner to start back toward the common room when she actually looked around her. Where was she? 

She stared around. She was seeing things that she knew she had never seen before. None of the paintings looked familiar and the statue of the troll that she was standing by was something she knew she would have remembered. What had she done wrong? She tried to remember how she had come up from the dungeons, trying to reconstruct where she had made her wrong turn. She even turned around, thinking that she could walk back down to the Potions classroom and start over. But after a few minutes, she realized that she was hopelessly lost. She had no idea how she had come to this location and even less idea how to get back to familiar territory. She walked down one dark corridor after another, fright rising in her throat as she walked and walked, never seeing another soul. Certainly there should be students around. It wasn't that late. Her watch said that it was barely 8 and she knew that curfew wasn't until 9. But the place was deadly still and she couldn't help the bubble of fear that rose in her throat. The cold air in the unfamiliar halls was making her break out in goose bumps. She came to a dead end in one of the corridors before she leaned against the wall and started crying, trying to wipe them away on the sleeve of her robes. Despite herself, it reminded her of that evening when she had gotten lost down Knockturn Alley. She remembered how she had seen the wizards walking down the street . . . .

As though a light had suddenly gone on her mind, she remembered something. She had seen them walking. There was a group of them, four or maybe five of the wizards. They were walking down the street. And one of them was limping. Lucius Malfoy was carrying his cane as usual, but one of the other wizards was actually limping, making a very distinct gait pattern. She had completely forgotten that she had seen them walking. She had seen how tall they were and seen them walk. She focused hard for a long time on the scene in her mind, replaying over and over again the few moments when she had tried to catch up with them. Yes. This might actually help. Okay. Now she had something that might help Professor Dumbledore identify who was walking down the street. If she could ever find his office again. She heard one of the ugly characters in a painting laughing at her predicament and she realized that it was time to test Hermione's theory that it was impossible to get lost in Hogwarts. 

"Excuse me." The man was nasty looking, covered with boils, and wearing some type of dirty-looking rags. 

"Yes, dearie?" He fixed an eye on her with what was unmistakably a leer, and Cassie shuddered. 

"I'm lost. Could you tell me, please, how to get to the Headmaster's office?"

"Is that where you were trying to go? You're ever so far away."

"Yes. I know. Please, just tell me how to get there."

"Maybe I will and maybe I won't. What will you give me in return, pretty? A kiss perhaps?"

"What will I . . . just tell me how to get to the Headmaster's office. Now." She tried to sound firm and it must have worked for the man looked disappointed, but rattled off a rather lengthy set of instructions that Cassie tried to absorb. She started off a few moments later, at least knowing now that she was headed in the right direction, thinking that if necessary she could always ask another painting. One who wasn't quite so gruesome. 

It took about 20 minutes but she finally stood in front of the familiar gargoyle. "Mars Bars." The gargoyle jumped aside and Cassie stepped onto the moving stairs. 

The Headmaster was sitting at his desk as she entered a few moments later and she entered hesitantly, unsure of what protocol was. Should she knock or just walk in? Harry seemed comfortable here and she had never seen him knock, but she knew that she and the Headmaster were not on nearly as intimate of terms. "Professor?"

"Ah, Miss Spencer. You survived detention, I see."

"Yes. Although I'm afraid Professor Snape is rather angry with me. Well, very angry actually. He . . . I . . .He . . . I think he might try to kill me if he sees me again." Professor Dumbledore chuckled. 

"If you should turn up dead, then, I will question him first. What can I do for you?" Cassie told about her memory of seeing the wizards walking down the street. 

"I can't believe I didn't think of it before. I . . .was just remembering the meeting, but not that I had actually seen them enter the store." 

"Of course, of course. You mentioned several times that it was because you were following them that you even went into the store but I had also not thought about you seeing how they walked. Foolish on my part. Please, Miss Spencer, tell me everything you recall." Cassie described as thoroughly as she could the way each of the wizards had walked, their heights, and their positions in the group. Professor Dumbledore nodded, making some notes on a piece of parchment. When she got to the part about the man who limped, he looked up sharply at her. "Tell me that again, please."

"He walked putting all his weight on his right leg, dragging the left leg up behind him, then quickly shifting the weight onto the left as he swung the right leg forward again. It was a short step, almost a hop, obviously very painful. He was hunched over, leaning to the right, counterbalancing the left leg's inability to hold weight." 

"Yes. Yes. I know the walk. I know the wizard. Thank you, Miss Spencer, thank you! If he was there . . . well. Let me just say that it could take our inquiries in a completely different direction." He looked excited, the blue eyes twinkling. "Amazing. That would be very unexpected. And yet to be honest, I would not be overly surprised. Perhaps I should have seen it myself." 

A few minutes later, after declining a sherbet lemon, Cassie was walking confidently down the hall toward the Gryffindor common room. For the first time in a long time she felt that she had done something useful and that her being here was actually serving some purpose. "Jingle Bells." And the portrait hole opened, allowing her to slide through into the warmth and noise of a place she was quickly starting to think of as home. 


	27. Discussions about Snape and Sirius

Chapter 27

Discussions about Snape and Sirius

Cassie immediately looked around for one of her friends but none of them seemed to be in the common room. She felt a little disconcerted. She had not been alone much since she arrived and tonight she had been on her own for quite a long time. Various students smiled at her and some even talked briefly to her as she crossed the common room to head up to her dorm. Ginny was probably upstairs, Cassie thought. But she wasn't. Cassie looked around the empty dorm room, unsure of what to do now. She really wanted to lay down and sleep but she knew that wasn't a good idea because in a little more than three hours she had Astronomy. Some people could maybe lay down and take a nap and then wake up feeling refreshed, but she knew herself well enough to know that wouldn't work. She'd be groggy and grumpy through the entire class if she went to sleep and then tried to wake up enough to go. She was actually really looking forward to the Astronomy class although she didn't really know what to expect. She remembered how much she had enjoyed looking at the stars with Harry all those months ago and was looking forward to doing that again. She hadn't had as much opportunity as she had hoped since then to actually use the telescope Harry had given her and had actually not even had it out of it's case since September. And she felt bad about that because she had promised Harry that she would use the telescope to look at the star Sirius in the winter. Well, she would make sure to find it tonight if she could.

She decided that she would work for a while on homework to keep herself busy and then reward herself later with a chance to write that letter to George. She debated about staying up here in the quiet but decided that if she really wanted to stay awake then she probably better be downstairs where the tension of keeping up appearances as well as the noise and movement would keep her from dozing off. So, she gathered up her books, some parchment, and a few quills as well as her trusty bottle of ink and descended the stairs into the common room again. When she got there, she saw Harry standing by the portrait hole and she assumed he had just come in. He looked at her in surprise, his green eyes blinking behind his glasses. "Uh, hello. Where did you just come from?" Cassie sat down at an empty table and he slid into the chair next to her.

"Upstairs. Where is everyone else?"

"Well, I think Ron and Hermione are having a little private time together but Ginny just went to get you from detention."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I came in a few minutes ago and went right upstairs, thinking she might be up there. I got done early."

"Obviously. Why were you back so soon?"

"Professor Snape threw me out around 7:45 or so." She didn't know how much he would really want to hear about what had happened in the Potions classroom and she wasn't sure she was too comfortable with it, either. It had been strange and she wanted to think about it before she told anyone else about it.

"He threw you out? What exactly does that mean?"

"Just that, Harry. He told me to leave."

"But you weren't done with your detention yet?"

"Well . . . I guess I was because he let me go." She felt her face get a little red. It was one thing to lie to people she didn't know or had to trick for the sake of keeping up the charade they were all maintaining, but lying to Harry was a lot trickier. Especially since he was looking at her with that look he had that made you just want to spill all your innermost secrets to him. Those eyes really should be registered as lethal weapons.

"I believe that one time you told me there were all sorts of lies. I never thought you were very good at any of them, although I have to admit that I've changed my mind. Spit it out, Pia." She flushed a little deeper.

"He tried that legit . . . lelil . . the mind reading thing on me."

Harry scowled. "And . . ."

"He saw a few things, I guess. When he does it to you is it like you see these memories but you don't even know why you're remembering that and then they just come one after the other?"

"That's what it's like, all right. So, what did he see?"

"Fortunately, I don't understand why really, he saw things that I don't think blew my cover too badly. He did see one scene with me and" Cassie was just about to say 'George right before he kissed me' but suddenly remembered that Harry had no idea that anything was going on with George and she didn't want to enlighten him "um, you." Harry's face flamed bright red. "It wasn't anything too strange. You were holding me in the kitchen of your place, that day that Ron and Hermione were there. He could tell I liked you, I think."

"That's going to be a little awkward."

"I'm sorry, Harry. I stopped the memory right away."

"You did what?" His face had lost all the high color and was now extremely pale. Cassie wasn't sure if it was just the contrast to what had been there before or not.

"I stopped the memory and I guess he stopped looking because for a few minutes there weren't any more of them. Then he made a comment later about how he thought we had just met. I didn't . . ." She stopped because Harry was staring at her like she had just sprouted horns.

"You stopped the memory? You stopped him looking at a memory you didn't want him to see?"

"Uh . . . well, I guess so. I just stopped thinking about it and concentrated on the nasty salamanders that I was supposed to be cutting up."

"Pia! I've been working for three years to be able to do that. It's really difficult and you just did it, just like that?!!!"

"I don't know, Harry!" Cassie was feeling very frustrated. She didn't know whether Harry was accusing her of lying or whether he was making more a big deal of this than it deserved. She hadn't done anything that anyone else wouldn't have done. Maybe he hadn't been doing the mind reading thing after all. She couldn't believe that she had done anything difficult. "Maybe I didn't do anything. I don't really know. I just . . . I just thought that . . ."

"I'm just trying to understand, Pia. So, he saw that memory and you stopped him. Then what happened?"

"I started remembering about a couple of the times I was in Diagon Alley. He saw me . . . talking to people, George Weasley in particular."

"Yeah? Good old George. I like him a lot."

"Uh huh. Anyway, and then I stopped that again before, uh . . ."

"You stopped that memory, too?"

"I guess so. Maybe I was wrong, Harry. Maybe I was just bored and started thinking about these things. 'Cause I didn't really do anything tricky."

"Keep telling me. Maybe you're right but maybe not." So, Cassie continued to relate what had happened, as carefully as she could.

"And then I saw the Quidditch game from Saturday and then . . ." She really didn't know how to explain what had happened next. She still wasn't sure what had happened. "And then, I guess he must have decided he had seen all he was going to get because he told me to leave."

Harry looked at her for a long minute and Cassie avoided the sudden urge to squirm. "You initially said he threw you out, which to me implies that he was very angry with you. I think you're leaving out the end. What really happened?"

"It doesn't matter, okay?"

"I want to know, Pia. I think we should all . . ."

"It has nothing to do with my being a witch or anything, Harry. It's just . . .It was nothing really." Harry fixed her with that gaze and this time, she squirmed. She couldn't help it.

"Out with it. Come on."

"I, well, suddenly I was watching a Quidditch game but it wasn't the right Quidditch game. Things were different. I was looking at it from a different angle and it wasn't cold. And there was a boy on a broom. He looked like you but he wasn't you. And then there was a girl and at first I thought it was Ginny but she wasn't Ginny and she looked at me and I felt . . . I wanted to be near her . . .I mean, he wanted to . . .Oh, Harry! Her eyes. She had your eyes. It was your mum, Harry. I'm positive of it and I was watching her through his eyes. I somehow . . . I don't know. I think I may have been inside his memory this time, Harry. He knew your parents, didn't he? I -"

Cassie dared a glance at Harry here, wondering what he was thinking. Maybe she was insane or something. But he had now gone almost completely white and for a moment Cassie thought he was going to faint. "You saw my mum and dad when they were still at school? Through his memory of them?" This was spoken in a very low voice, almost like he was afraid to speak the words.

"I think so. I'm not sure. But when it stopped I told him that I saw her and how much he had liked her. Loved her. And then he lost it. He started yelling at me to get out and so I grabbed my wand and ran out."

"What do you mean, 'loved her?'"

"Oh, Harry. Didn't you know?"

"Know what?" His eyebrows were drawn close together, and he was concentrating very hard, like he was trying to understand something. But there was a certain stiffness in his shoulders, like he didn't want to accept the truth of what she was saying.

"How much Professor Snape loved your mother when they were here at school together?"

"You're wrong, Pia. He hated my mother. Hated everything she stood for. He called her nasty names and . . . she was Muggle-born, you know."

"Maybe you're right. Maybe I was wrong about that. It all happened so quickly." She decided there was no use arguing about whether Professor Snape had loved Harry's mum or not. It didn't matter now and if it upset Harry then there was no point. She glanced down at her hands. She wasn't sure what to say next.

"But back to the main point, then, Pia. You saw his memory this time?"

"I can't be sure, of course. But I . . . well, it was definitely not my memory. I never even knew what your mum looked like and obviously I never met her at a Quidditch match. Well, unless you believe in reincarnation and maybe I was a student here in a former life or something. Do you think that's possible?" Cassie honestly didn't know what else to say. She had been so positive it had been Snape's memory she was in, but maybe she was wrong. It all had been so quick.

"No. You saw his memory, all right. If not, he wouldn't have gotten so mad and thrown you out. But I just don't understand how that's possible. I . . . I wouldn't think you would be able to do that. I mean, I thought . . ." and his voice dropped so low that Cassie had to lean nearer to him to hear it. " . . . I thought that Occlumency and Legilemency were magic things. I thought you could only do them if you were a witch or a wizard. I can't understand how you are doing them."

Cassie stared at him for a long minute before she said anything. "What?" That was all that came out even though she had about a million questions trying to get out at once.

"That's what you did. When you blocked him from seeing your memories, that was Occlumency and when you saw his, that was Legilemency."

"I'm obviously wrong then. I just made a mistake, that's all." She suddenly wanted to scream, to run away from Harry and all the insanity that her life was quickly becoming. She started to stand up but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back down into her chair.

"Pia. I must be wrong. I'm not trying to say you are a witch. There's been no other evidence of it. But . . . I'm just confused about how you can do that. I think we definitely need to ask Hermione. She can find something out about it." Cassie was about to say something else when the portrait hole opened and a very distressed-looking redhead slid into the room. She glanced around quickly and saw Harry and Cassie sitting at the table and Cassie saw her expression clear instantly. Ginny walked quickly over to them and sat down in the seat across from Harry.

"How did I miss you, Pia? There was no one in the Potions classroom and I was worried."

Cassie just gave a brief description of how she had gotten lost after saying that Snape had given her a really short detention. Harry scowled but didn't correct her. Cassie then gave a very stylized and dramatic account of her encounter with the lecherous old man in the painting. They were both laughing loudly. Cassie was also about to tell them what she had remembered and what Dumbledore had said when she realized that this probably wasn't the safest place to be discussing it. Not that she knew of anywhere more private but there were just too many people around. "I remembered something else I want to talk to you all about, but later. When we can have a little more privacy. Maybe when Ron and Hermione get back from doing whatever it is they're doing." Both Harry and Ginny laughed.

"That'll be a while. They have these extremely long discussions, you know." Ginny snickered into her hand. Harry smiled, too.

"I guess you two used to be able to have similar discussions before I got here, huh?" Cassie stared at the table surface, very self-conscious and embarrassed. She wanted to tell them that they could go have whatever "discussions" they wanted to without worrying about her. But honestly, she wasn't sure she could actually spit out the words. Despite everything, she still didn't really like to think about Harry and Ginny snogging madly in an empty classroom or a closet somewhere. Which was ridiculous, because she and George . . . well, maybe once she and George had been able to do that on Saturday, maybe the last little bit of ache would be out of her heart and she could think about Harry kissing someone else without it bothering her. She hoped so. Harry cleared his throat at the same moment Ginny did and all three of them laughed, the awkwardness around the table decreasing a little.

"I hope we were never as bad as those two. We don't mind, though. There'll be plenty of time for long discussions afterward." Cassie braved a glance at Ginny and was rewarded with a warm smile. "I've got some homework to do, as I imagine you do, too, Pia?"

"Yeah. A lot of it. I don't think I have any that's due tomorrow, though."

Cassie and Ginny filled Harry in on the fun they had had in Divination and he shook his head in amazement as Cassie told him about Trelawney's comments about the Weasleys. He also laughed about Ginny's bump on the head from the bludger and looked with interest and the complicated chart in their textbook. "I'm glad I don't have that class anymore. But, I've told Ginny this, Pia. Ron and I kept our master list of accidents and tragedies so that we could hand it on to others. If you need it, it's full of great ideas of terrible things that can happen to you so you can interlace your homework with them." He looked so serious and sincere that both Cassie and Ginny practically laughed themselves into hysterics at the thought of the two boys busily compiling this list of possible ways to die and be maimed. He looked affronted at their obvious amusement and excused himself to go upstairs. "I've got actually real homework to do, you two. Have fun with your skulls." That made them laugh even harder and it took a long time for them to calm down.

It was 11:00 before Cassie had finished enough of her homework that she felt she could realistically finish the rest tomorrow night and she decided that she deserved to indulge herself now and write to George. Ron and Hermione had come back only 15 minutes earlier, both of them looking extremely windswept although when Ginny asked, they insisted they had not been outside. They had gone up to their separate dorms and both younger girls had barely been able to control their laughter until they were far enough up the steps that they wouldn't hear. "Must have been some discussion!" Cassie had gasped out much to Ginny's amusement.

"Yeah, they even risked Filch and detention! Wonder what they talked about?" That both sent them into new peals of laughter and Cassie had really had to force herself to calm down so she could finish working on her Potions essay. Thinking about Professor Snape reminded her of what had happened that night and she stared for a minute at the parchment before deciding not to say anything to Ginny about it. She wasn't sure she wanted to tell the girl what had really happened during her detention tonight. Harry knew, now, and if it was important that everyone else know, he would certainly fill them in.

She pulled out a clean piece of parchment and wrote as neatly as she could. The letter was short and she hoped that he understood the emotions behind it, even if she couldn't get all romantic like he had done with the dangerous, wonderful, fantastically stupid letter she had gotten this morning.

George, Thank you so much for taking the time to write. I am sure that you have better things to worry about than writing your cousin but it is good to hear from you. I am doing quite well here at school. Since I last wrote to you on Sunday I've been to many more classes, of course, and have enjoyed most of them. We made it snow on our desks in charms and then built snowmen. We then made them come to life and Ginny's, mine, and Rhiannon's all had a snowball fight. That was interesting. Remember in the ice-cream shop, the Christmas scene there? I am sure that is the charm he used because it looked the same. Then we all met Hagrid's new cuddly friend. I think it is a chimera? Yeah, Ginny says that's right. He calls it "Shimmy" and wondered why none of us were willing to pet it. We changed rats to rabbits in Transfiguration and I didn't manage to do it. Ginny did, though, and so did Ron. You would have been proud of your siblings if you could have seen them. By the way, your dragon-head/smoke fake wand is extremely impressive. Even Professor McGonagall was amazed. I had Potions today, as you obviously are aware. Professor Snape hates me. Big surprise there, I'm sure. I had detention with him tonight and had to chop up salamanders. Now he hates me more because of something that happened there. I wish I could tell you about it, but I can't. I did tell Harry, though, and he says I didn't do anything wrong.

Cassie paused for a long moment and read what she had written. She felt tears prickle behind her eyes and she blinked them back. She didn't really know why they were there, either. She just wanted to go home where she didn't have to worry about cutting up salamanders or about whether she had seen an accurate memory or not, something that she shouldn't even be able to do, where she didn't have to worry about fake wands or biting plants, and where the most dangerous creature she could run into was the mean dog her neighbor two doors down liked to turn loose. But, somewhere, mixed in with all that homesickness, was a desperate desire to see George and be held by him. She was lonely for that in a way she had never experienced before. Maybe it was because she was so near to Harry again and that was stirring up all those emotions she had managed to suppress over the very long summer and fall. She glanced at her watch and realized she was going to have to hurry.

I've got astronomy in just a few minutes. Ginny says we can send this letter out tonight with, uh, Pig. I don't know what she means but I better get it finished before we have to leave. We are all looking forward to seeing you and Fred on Saturday in Hogsmeade. Ginny says there is a lot to do there and that we should have a good time. I'm a little nervous but I trust she is right and am counting the hours until then. Love, Pia.

She hurriedly folded the letter and wrote George's name on it, this time addressing it "The Burrow" which was much more fun to write than Weasley's Wizard Wheezes.

"Ginny, did you say we could send this with Pig?"

"Yeah. Ron sometimes lets me borrow him. I know he's here, too. Ron used Hedwig last night to send those wand orders because of the gold that had to be carried and Pig was mad because it had been so long since he got to take a letter. So Ron will be happy we can use him."

"But how are we going to get, uh, Pig? I don't think we have time to go all the way to the Owlery."

"Don't need to. Ron keeps him in their room. He's so tiny he would get eaten alive by those big nasty owls up there. I'll just run this up there."

"Are you allowed to go to their room?"

"Yeah. Bit sexist the builders of this place were. They can't come to our dorms but we can go to theirs. I think only Ron and Harry are up there in the room, so it's no problem." Ginny looked at Cassie for a minute. "Do you want to come up with me?"

"Um, sure. I guess so." The 7th year boys' dorm room looked remarkably like the 6th year girls'. There were also posters on the wall although they were of sports teams and one rock band Cassie actually recognized rather than of handsome wizards who were showing off their chests. No witch-centerfolds, though, were pinned up and Cassie wondered whether that sort of thing existed or if they were just more discreet than boys of this age would be back home. Harry and Ron's beds were rumpled and Ron was embarrassed because the girls caught him in his pajamas. He was, as Ginny had predicted, happy to let them use Pig.

"Why are you writing a letter to George, Pia?" he asked as he tied the letter carefully to the smallest owl Cassie had ever seen and threw him out the window.

"I just, uh, wanted to thank him for the wand." Ron looked confused.

"Ginny, you should've told her to make the letter to both of them, then. I think the dragon-head one was particularly Fred's idea although I know George worked on the smoke part." Cassie flushed bright red and then tried hard to relax when she felt Harry's eyes on her. Darn it. What if he remembered her comments from earlier about talking to George and put two and two together. She wasn't ashamed of liking George or anything, not at all. She just didn't want to be humiliated when he told her to go jump in the Hogwarts lake when she saw him on Saturday.

"Oh, well. Don't worry about that, Ron. I actually addressed the letter inside to both of them. I just thought the owl would have an easier time of it if it was only addressed to one of the twins. I mean, what if they weren't actually together when he got there?" Cassie was talking fast now. Ron scowled.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. But I guess it doesn't matter." He stopped for a minute looking at the two of them. "Look. I know you guys have Astronomy in a few minutes. But we don't. And it's very late. Do you mind leaving? I want to get some rest tonight." Ginny just scowled and then walked over to Harry and kissed him. Cassie stared hard at the Chudley Cannons' poster above Ron's bed, pretending she didn't hear kissing noises behind her. Hermione was right. It was a really hideous color of orange.

Ten minutes later, Cassie drew her thick winter robe around her, shivering in the cold draft that was blowing through the stairway as they climbed up toward the Astronomy Tower. "Please tell me there's a roof and some windows in here, Ginny. Please."

"Well, yes. Otherwise, this wouldn't be the snogging hang out in mid-winter would it? But you have to go outside to use the student telescopes and obviously people are opening the doors and that's why it's so cold down here."

"I'm going to die." All four of the other girls laughed. It turned out that Saffron, Elspeth, and Rhiannon also had Astronomy tonight which Cassie thought was the first time that all five of them had had class together. There had been some rather pointed teasing of Elspeth, wondering if she and Colin had found their way up to the tower yet for a little non-classroom related stargazing. Elspeth had just turned bright pink and told them that their dating had not yet reached that level. Ginny hadn't joined in which made Rhiannon ask her if she and Harry had ever spent an evening in the tower.

"No. It's too crowded all the time. Besides, Harry likes to be a little subtle. It wouldn't be like him to actually come up here, I don't think." Rhiannon had to agree and they climbed for a few minutes in silence.

"Pia, have you found someone you want to spend time in the Astronomy tower with yet?" Cassie just shook her head. "It looks like Draco Malfoy wouldn't mind helping you with your star chart, though." Cassie shot a sharp glare at Saffron although she didn't look chagrined at all by her comments. "Well. I'm just stating the obvious."

"He's dreaming. I wouldn't touch him with a 10-foot, uh, wand." The other girls chuckled although Saffron's mouth tightened.

"I think he's cute."

"Well, maybe you should invite him to help you with your Astronomy homework. He's obviously not attached to anyone else." Saffron looked at her.

"Maybe I will." They had reached the famed Astronomy tower and Cassie could tell right away why this was such a popular place for couples who wanted to be alone for some private snogging sessions. It was a beautiful room, large and airy with huge glass windows around the back half. The front half looked more like a typical classroom with a blackboard and a teacher's desk. There were no desks for the students, though, which made Cassie wonder where everyone sat. There was also one very large telescope that pointed through yet another large window at the front of the classroom. There were two doors that led out of the classroom and although Cassie couldn't see what was on the other side, she figured that must be where Ginny meant when she said they had to go outside to use the student telescopes. They obviously weren't in here.

"Where do we sit?" Cassie asked as they moved to the middle of the classroom.

"Well, if we're having a long lecture, she'll pull out cushions because sometimes we have to lie down while she shows us things on the ceiling." Cassie glanced up but it was just a plain white ceiling as far as she could tell. "No, she shows us a magical view of the outside sky. It's not there all the time because she changes it a lot. Normally, though, we just stand while she tells us really fast what she wants us to do."

"Okay." So there were cushions, big windows with stunning views of the grounds and the night skies, deep window seats where you could curl up together. Yeah. This would definitely be a nice place to come cuddle with a sweetheart. No wonder everyone tried to come up here. Maybe it would be worth asking Draco . .. No! She wouldn't even let her mind contemplate that disgusting concept!

The professor was nice, explaining quickly what she wanted them to look at tonight and how to locate the particular constellations and stars they were supposed to be charting. "And when is the next full moon, class?" Everyone dutifully answered that it was Sunday night and the professor smiled. "That's right. So we aren't going to see many of the dim stars tonight. The moon is just too bright." And a few minutes later they walked through the two doors and Cassie caught her breath in complete amazement.

Stunning. That was really the only word for it. She had been to observatories before and even seen star shows, but this was breathtaking. It was like they were actually up among the stars. There was no light pollution this far from civilization as it were and the stars seemed to be so close that you could actually reach out and touch one. She and Ginny found two telescopes and Cassie looked down at the blank star chart on the small table attached to the wall by hers. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

"Don't worry about it, okay? Just look around and pretend to write some stuff on it every once in a while. If you're still here next week, I'll let you copy mine." Cassie smiled brightly at Ginny and pulled her robe tighter around her, then bent down to look through the telescope. If possible, it was even better with the telescope. The moon was quite bright and she thought that it must be incredible out here when the moon was new and every star would be much more visible.

She found Cassiopeia pretty quickly once she got herself oriented. She remembered how it had looked when Harry had showed her at home but here she was a lot further north and it was winter, so it made a huge difference. She took a while to find and Big Dipper and the Little Dipper and was embarrassed when she saw what Ginny was doing on her paper, which looked like an extremely complicated drawing. Cassiopeia still didn't look like a queen to her, but at least it was upright today instead of laying down on its side. She scanned the heavens rather randomly, trying to remember the other constellations she had learned, both with Harry and on her own. She saw Draco quickly as it was fairly near Cassiopeia. Ugh. She looked around for the star Sirius which she had never seen but she wasn't sure what she was looking for.

"Ginny? Where's Sirius?" Ginny looked up, confused at the question. "The star, Sirius. I want to see it."

Ginny smiled a sort of half-sad smile. "It's the brightest star in the sky, Pia. Look around for it and if you can't find it in a few minutes, I'll point it out to you." She bit her lip and then bent her head back down to the telescope. Cassie looked around for a long while, seeing several bright stars but then deciding that she saw one even brighter. She had about despaired of finding it, resigned to asking Ginny for help when she suddenly saw it, quite near the horizon, shining like a spotlight. And she knew without even asking that it was the one she was looking for. Sirius. She felt tears prickle again at the back of her eyes and a lump came to her throat. She remembered with aching clarity the night Harry had told her about his godfather and about how he had died. He still missed him, obviously, and Cassie wished she could have known him. She imagined that he must have been a very interesting person.

It was only a few minutes later that class ended and everyone gathered up their star charts and headed back into the warmth of the classroom. "Did you find it?" Ginny asked quietly as they started down the long staircase again a little bit later.

"Yeah."

"So he told you about him?"

"Yeah."

"He . . .meant a lot to Harry. And to all of us."

"Yeah." Cassie felt like an idiot and wished she could have added more to the conversation. But she had never known him and didn't really know what else to add. "It's a beautiful star. No wonder Harry likes to look at it in the winter." Ginny just nodded and Cassie noticed that she had tears in her eyes, so she didn't say anything else.

By the time she undressed and slipped into bed it was almost 2. It was insane to have this class in the middle of the week and then early classes the next morning. Considering that they would have to get up early for the usual hair-drying ritual as well as the pre-breakfast planning meeting, she would be lucky if she got five hours of sleep. So she knew that she needed to get to sleep quickly. But despite that, she couldn't get the memories out of her mind of Harry holding her as he told her about Sirius and how he had cried during the entire story. Somehow, realizing that Ginny had known him, too, and missed him like Harry did made the story that much more real and even more sad than it had been before. She rolled over in bed, hugging her pillow desperately. Why did all this have to happen? And she hadn't come to any conclusions by the time that she finally fell into a fitful sleep quite a while later.


	28. Unexpected Revelations

Two short author's notes: First, I have been asked what is so terrible about a chimera as Shimmy reappears in this chapter. You can look them up in the Harry Potter Lexicon or in "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them." Suffice it to say, they are extremely violent and uncontrollable creatures. I know I wouldn't want to meet one in a dark alley. Just the sort of thing Hagrid would like!

Second, just a reminder that I will publish chapter 29 in two days as usual but after that the chapters will be four days apart, so expect the next chapter on the 11th and so on. Sorry, but it takes me about that long to do each chapter and I have run out of pre-written material. 

Thanks for reading and enjoying the story. Reviews have been messed up the last few days, but when I can see your reviews, they have really been encouraging. I appreciate each and every one.

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Chapter 28

Unexpected Revelations

Cassie groaned and rolled over in bed. Morning had come too early today. She looked at Ginny's smiling face above her. "How do you do it? I'm exhausted." 

"Wednesday mornings are always hard for me, too. But, classes end early today so I sometimes take a nap in the afternoon." 

"Nap . . . nap . . . nap. I'll just keep saying that over and over again today." 

Ginny laughed gently. "At least today should be easy for you. I think Hermione's got every single class marked green."

"Really? You aren't just trying to make me feel good?" Cassie was almost afraid to hope that Ginny was telling the truth. 

"Nope. I'm serious. It should be a great day. Come on, let's get going."

Cassie got out of bed and grabbed her bathrobe, grateful for the warmth of her flannel nightgown. She hurriedly slipped her feet into her slippers and they started downstairs quickly. She decided as she stood patiently a few minutes later while Ginny dried her hair that tonight she would braid her hair again so she wouldn't have to get up as early in the morning. It would be a nice change. Ginny had been wonderful, getting up early to help her out with her hair and it would give her a chance to also sleep in.

The pre-breakfast planning meeting (or PPM Cassie called it to herself) was fairly unexciting as, like Ginny had promised, the day looked like a fairly easy one. She did laugh out loud though as she looked carefully at the schedule and saw what class she had in the afternoon. "Muggle Studies? You actually take a class in Muggle Studies? I don't know whether to be intrigued or insulted! What do you learn about in there?" 

Ginny looked a little embarrassed. "Hermione took it. I don't think it was too bad, was it, Hermione?" 

"It's not really bad. You just have to . . . be a little patient with the Professor. Understand where he's coming from and all that. And be careful what you say. Everyone knew I was Muggle born so I could say anything and they understood. You, on the other hand, are supposed to be pure-blood."

"Does that mean I have to hate all things Muggle?" She didn't know how that would work if she had to pretend to hate, uh, herself. 

"No, no. Of course not. I mean, look at Ginny. In fact, why don't you take your cues from Ginny."

"All right. I guess I can do that." 

The five trooped down to the Great hall for breakfast where the boys greedily ladled heaps of eggs, sausages, and bacon onto their plates. Ginny and Hermione took much smaller helpings. Cassie, on the other hand, stared blankly at the large platters of meat and eggs and instead selected half of a grapefruit and a couple of slices of wheat toast, mumbling something about not being up to eating a lot when she would rather be back in bed. She felt better after a few minutes and sat contentedly watching the students at the various tables throughout the room. Right on schedule, there was the rustling of wings and the mail owls came through the window. Cassie smiled to herself. She never got tired of watching this because it was absolutely fascinating to see as the owls found the recipients for the mail they held and dropped whatever it was they held in their talons. It was interesting because they seemed to be able to judge the path for each piece as they (almost without exception) fell directly in front of the correct student. Cassie had no idea how the owls knew who was who. But she had stopped worrying about that. She just liked watching it. Harry got a newspaper and read it over quickly though he never commented on anything from the day's edition that Cassie heard. Hermione got a letter and she read it, whispering quietly to Ron as she did so. Elspeth also got a letter. Cassie watched as the picked the letter up off the table and looked at it, then smiled wanly and tucked it into her book bag. 

"Aren't you going to open that?" Colin asked. The two had taken to sitting by each other at every meal and Cassie thought they were adorable together. 

"No." Elspeth tried to look casual, but Cassie noticed that her hands were trembling as she picked up her glass of juice. "I know what it says." Cassie didn't keep staring at her, but she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Elspeth didn't eat any more of her breakfast, despite Colin's gentle nagging that she hadn't had enough to sustain life yet. Colin got up a few minutes later, patting Elspeth gently on the shoulder as he left. 

"I've got to run back up to the dorm because I forgot a book. Sorry. I'll meet you in Defense, okay?" 

"Sure. See you in a minute." Cassie watched as Colin left the Great Hall and then despite herself turned to watch Elspeth, whose eyes had also followed Colin as he left. Elspeth reached into her book bag and pulled the envelope out, opening it quickly and scanning its contents. She bit her lip as she read, her eyes suspiciously bright by the time she got to the bottom a minute later. She smiled half-heartedly at Cassie and then got up from the table and left, stuffing the letter back into her bag as she walked out of the room. 

Cassie was tempted to call out to her and ask if she could help. The girl was obviously upset and Cassie wondered what was wrong. However, she decided against it, not wanting to be too interfering. "Well, I guess we better go, Pia. We've got Defense this morning." As they both stood up, Harry stood up, also. 

"I'll walk you two to class, if that's all right." Ginny looked up at him with surprise, her eyes narrowed with suspicion. 

"It's all right, but don't you have class yourself?"

"Not today. I've got something else going on." 

"Is everything okay, Harry?" 

"Yeah. It's great." Ginny looked at Cassie and it was easy to read the worry in her eyes. Cassie thought that it must be very hard to be Harry Potter's girlfriend, constantly worried about his safety and wondering when and where he would be in trouble next. They walked through the halls toward the Defense classroom, Ginny and Harry holding hands and talking about nothing in particular. However, Cassie could sense the worry under Ginny's smile and hoped that she was worrying for nothing. "See you two in a few minutes, okay?" Harry said rather enigmatically as they went into the classroom. Ginny's brows furrowed together. 

"Okay. Bye, Harry." Ginny turned to Cassie as the door closed behind them. "What do you think is wrong?"

"Nothing. Maybe he just wanted to walk with you to class."

"Maybe. But I doubt it. That's not like him." Ginny walked to her seat, a look of concern on her features. Cassie saw Elspeth sitting next to Colin and hoped the girl was happier now. But she took one look at Elspeth's face and realized that she was not. She had obviously been crying, her eyes were red and her face was sticky. Cassie couldn't just sit down and pretend she hadn't seen. 

"What's wrong, Elspeth?"

"Nothing I didn't expect." The girl said, as she wiped at new tears. "I got a letter from my parents basically telling me to get myself under control."

"I don't . . ."

"Colin. They know about Colin and don't want me to ever talk to him again." Cassie stared at her. 

"You're kidding. Tell me you're kidding." 

"I knew they'd find out. I don't know why I thought I could get away with it." Cassie was about to respond with a rather sharp retort when Remus entered the classroom. 

"I'll talk to you later." Elspeth smiled and Colin looked with grateful eyes up at Cassie. She slipped into her chair next to Ginny. "I can't believe it. Elspeth's letter from home was warning her to never see Colin again."

"Ah. I thought that might be it." 

"You don't sound very indignant on behalf of your roommate."

"Why should I be? My being angry isn't going to change her parents' minds. I told you that they wouldn't be happy and so did she." 

"But, you don't think they're right, do you?"

"Of course I don't but . . . Look, Pia. Could we talk about this later?" Remus was staring at the two of them and Cassie realized that he was trying to start class.

"Sorry." She looked back at Remus and smiled apologetically. 

"Okay, class. Let's get started now that we've all settled down. We've now talked about the Imperius and the Cruciatus curses over the last two class periods. What do you think we are going to talk about today?" There was a smattering of nervous laughter and Cassie wondered what they were going to talk about. Another really bad curse, she gathered from everyone's reaction. "That's right, Avarda Kedavra." 

"Who'll be volunteering for a demonstration today, Professor?" a student asked and everyone laughed, including Remus. 

"I thought I'd let you, Kit. The other students have put in a special request." More laughter rippled through the room. After a minute, Remus continued. "Obviously I won't be doing a demonstration today, but I do want to talk about it today." Cassie looked at Remus and noticed that he looked exhausted. She vaguely wondered what was bothering him. 

"Avarda Kedavra is also known as the killing curse. It is the most powerful curse known to wizards. It kills immediately without leaving a mark on the victim and there is no way to fight it or negate its effects." 

"So why are we talking about it?" It was the boy named Kit again, who Cassie realized had been the skeptical student during the last two lessons. 

"Well, I'm glad you asked that. You need to know about it. There's no use going through life ignorant so that you make an easy target. We all know that there is only one person in the world who has ever survived being hit with the killing curse. No, we don't know how he did it. But you may not know that this same person has had the curse cast at him about six times now and has managed to live through it each time. That is what I want to talk about today. And so, I want to go directly to the source, so to speak. I'd like you all to welcome a guest speaker today, Harry Potter." Cassie gasped in surprise. She hadn't expected that at all. She had had no idea that he was talking about Harry. But it was obvious from Ginny's expression that she had right from the beginning of the lecture, although she also seemed surprised that Harry was speaking to the class. The other students in the class were whispering excitedly amongst themselves as well. 

"I guess now we know why he walked us to class." 

"Yeah. That's a relief. I was worried." 

"Harry you can come in now," Remus called and the door opened. Harry poked his head in and it was obvious he was looking around for Ginny. He found her and it seemed to calm him. He walked slowly into the classroom and up to the front. "Hi, Harry. How are you doing?" 

"I'm okay. I feel like an idiot, though."

"I know you don't normally like to talk about your experiences fighting You-Know-Who and dodging the curses he's thrown at you, but I think you have some valuable pointers." 

"If you say so, Remus." Harry turned and faced the classroom. "I . . . I'm supposed to talk to you about what it's like to have the Avarda Kedavra curse cast at you and what I've done to avoid being hit with it." The room was so quiet that Cassie would have sworn she could have heard a pin drop if someone had had one. "I want to tell you, first of all, that I've only been hit with it once and lived and that was when I was a baby and I don't remember very much about it. I remember seeing the green light . . . but I think that was when, um, You-Know-Who killed my mum, not when it hit me. So, other than that, I don't know anything about it. I don't remember if it hurt or anything. The other times . . .I've never been hit with it or I'm sure I'd be dead just like any of you would be." Harry looked with a vaguely panicked expression at Remus. "I don't know what else you want me to talk about, Remus." 

"Why don't you tell about the other times it was cast at you and what you did?" 

"Um, well. Let me see. The first time was during my fourth year, the time when Volde- um, You-Know-Who, came back." Cassie watched with intense fascination as Harry continued talking about his encounters with Voldemort. After the first few minutes, he relaxed and although he was still quiet, Harry related some very dramatic events in a clear understandable way. The rest of the class seemed just as entranced as she was. After what seemed like a very long recitation, he finally was quiet and stood looking at the class. "I guess that's it, really. Mostly, I was just lucky." 

"The thing, Harry, that has impressed me about your stories, because I've heard them before of course, is that you refuse to give up." Harry nodded, looking as confused as the rest of the class. "I mean, most wizards, knowing that Avarda Kedavra was going to be cast at them, would just stand there and wait to die. But you don't do that."

"No. I refuse to be standing there like an idiot when he kills me. I want to fight him. He's going to have to work if he wants to hit me with it again." 

"That's exactly the point, Harry, that I want these students to learn. You can fight back and sometimes, with a little bit of luck and some good defense skills, you can escape. I think most wizards would not be expecting a fight and would be surprised to have someone attempt to defend themselves against the three unforgiveable curses, particularly Avarda Kedavra." 

"Yeah. I think you're right, Remus. Voldemort always seems surprised. You'd think by now he'd have figured out that I'm not just going to let him kill me. But I'm pretty sure that's what he wants to do." More nervous laughter, some of it, Cassie thought, was because Harry had used Voldemort's name. 

Remus and Harry talked for several more minutes about Harry's experiences against Voldemort and the entire class listened with interest. "The thing is that I didn't do anything special. Any of you could have done the same thing. I'm not that powerful of a wizard or anything, really. I just . . . I guess I'm just too stubborn to let him kill me." 

"Okay, we have a few more minutes before our time is up, students. Has anyone got any questions for Harry?" 

Almost everyone's hand shot up instantly and Cassie looked around. Harry blushed. But he started answering questions, quietly and carefully addressing each of them. Some of them were strange like "What does You-Know-Who look like?" Some of them were completely off topic, like "What's your favorite color?" Some of them were, in Cassie's opinion, sort of sad, "Do you remember your mum and dad at all?" and "I heard your scar kind of warns you about bad stuff. How does it do that?" 

Cassie was surprised when Remus interrupted a little later. "That's all we have time for today, I think. Thanks, Harry. I know you were hesitant to come today, but you've done a really good job. Students, I just want to emphasize one more time what Harry has talked about today. If you think that someone is going to cast a curse on you, I don't care if it's Imperius or Cruciatus or even Avarda Kedavra, don't just stand there and wait to be hit. Fight back. You may not avoid it. But at least you will know that you made the effort." The class clapped enthusiastically and the students stood up to leave. 

"I thought this was supposed to be a two-hour class, Ginny." 

"Yeah." Ginny walked over to Harry, slipping her arms around his waist and hugging him tightly. Cassie glanced down at her watch and her eyes widened in shock. It had been almost two hours. She would have sworn that only 30 minutes or so had passed since Harry had started talking. Whoa. She had been so entranced by what he had said that time had passed unnoticed. The classroom emptied out and Harry (and Ginny who was still hugging him) was still talking to Remus. Cassie went up to join them. Remus smiled at her as she came to stand by Ginny. 

"Hello, Pia. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing pretty well. You don't look very good though. Are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Remus waved his wand and the door to the classroom closed. "I actually wanted to let you know that your safe house is almost ready for you." 

"Oh." Cassie felt her stomach lurch. She really did not want to go to a safe house. Harry had been so lonely. She knew that she would not be able to stand to be alone for weeks on end. But she knew that they were just trying to keep her safe, so she really shouldn't complain. Before she could ask any questions about it, though, Remus continued. 

"You're doing so well here at Hogwarts, though, that we've decided to leave you here for a while longer." Again, mixed feelings. She liked it here, but she was having to do a lot of lying and she couldn't keep up the pretense of being magic forever, could she? "We'll probably let you stay to the end of term, which is less than two weeks away, unless something should change."

"Okay." She wanted to ask more questions, but she didn't. She felt ungrateful for complaining. After all, everyone was going to all this work to keep her safe. And if she was miserable for a few days, it wouldn't kill her. Harry had managed. So could she. 

"I think you'll be happy there, Pia. No need to look so worried." 

"Do you think it will be that long before we figure out who was at the meeting?" She kept thinking that certainly by now they had discovered who had been at the meeting and what they wanted to do. For heck sakes, these were wizards. They should be able to work out this little mystery pretty quickly. 

"At the rate we're going, yes. We just keep running into dead ends. Most people of the Order assume that we're going to have to wait until they actually do something before we can move against them. We're not figuring anything out. You gave us a big clue last night and we're trying to use that to make progress, so maybe something will change but if I were you, I wouldn't count on leaving us any time in the immediate future. Are you that miserable?" 

"I'm not miserable, Remus. It's just hard to keep up the charade, you know what I mean?" 

"I understand. But I must say I've been impressed with the success of your efforts. Everyone who has met you is convinced you are a powerful witch. Even Sybil Trelawney was discussing you in fairly glowing terms although she said it was a pity that you were related to the Weasleys. She thinks that it clouds your Inner Eye." Remus said this with some real amusement in his voice and the three students laughed in response. 

"What sort of a clue did you give them, Pia? You had detention last night, didn't you? Did Snape say something to you?" 

"No. I . . . I remembered something." Cassie was about to elaborate about seeing the wizards walking and particularly about the one with the bad limp, but Harry glanced down at his watch. 

"Aaah! We'd better run. Ron is going to be mad if we don't get up there fast. We've got to get over to Hagrid's!" A quick glance at her own watch confirmed that Harry was right. They had less than 10 minutes before their Care of Magical Creatures class started. Not that she was in a hurry to get there.

"Do you think he'll still have that awful chimera?" She gasped as the three of them practically ran down the steps to the front entrance hall, where Ron was standing, looking disgusted. 

"Oh, yeah. Unless it's escaped or eaten Fang."

"Fang? Who's Fang?' Ginny started laughing then, and the other two had to stop as she bent over, holding her stomach. 

"Sorry. Sorry." she gasped, trying to catch her breath between her outbursts of laughter. 

"What's so funny?" Ron had come up to meet them. 

"It's Pia. She just asked who Fang was?" 

"Yeah? Why is that funny?"

"Oh, Ron." Ginny stood up, recovering from her near hysteria. "Haven't you figured it out?" 

"Obviously not. Come on, you can explain why that practically sent you into spasms of amusement as we walk." Ron shot his sister a disgusted look and started back down the steps. 

"Think about it. Hagrid has all these horrible creatures all the time. And what does he name them? There was Fluffy . . . and Norbert . . . and now Shimmy."

"Yeah. So?"

"Then he has this boarhound that wouldn't hurt a fly. The worst thing he would do to you is drool you to death. . . ."

"Oh, I get where you're going!"

"And he names him Fang!" All three of them finished together and Cassie laughed with them. 

"It just struck me as so funny all of a sudden, I don't know why." Ginny tried hard to compose herself as they crossed the lawn, her snickers coming further and further apart as they walked.

They approached the small cluster of black-robed students who were standing near the paddock, looking at the still menacing chimera. It was not tied down anymore and was pacing back and forth in the paddock, growling at the students. Harry said, "Let's go up closer to the fence."

"Are you mental, Harry?" Ron asked. "I want to stay back here where I'm at least relatively safe. If that thing escapes, it'll eat the kids standing nearest the fence first." Cassie blanched. Was it really possible that it would eat students? 

"Oh, come on. You've faced Death Eaters. You can face Shimmy." 

"Well, truthfully, mate, I think I'd rather face Death Eaters. At least they don't have sharp teeth!" But all four of them stepped up to the fence, trying to support Hagrid. Cassie watched the chimera pace back and forth. It was certainly ugly and it still didn't look like a baby. She would hate to see it when it was fully grown. It was already the size of a small pony. 

The other students in the class were obviously not as forgiving of Hagrid's eccentricities as the Gryffindors were. Cassie heard them muttering about the large man as they stood and waited for him to emerge from his cabin. "I sent an owl to my mum about this on Monday. I haven't heard back but I assume she's going to write the Headmaster to get me out of this class." Cassie glanced behind her to see if she knew who was talking. It was one of the Hufflepuff students who had gotten caught by Filch on Monday. 

"If you hate it so much, why are you taking it? He's always been like this."

"Have to. I want to get N.E.W.T. certification in Magical Creatures, but honestly, I'm not learning anything. He's hopeless as a teacher. He's either got horrible creatures or stupid ones. Remember the skrewts?" 

"Yeah. How could I forget? You'd have thought they were cuddly teddy bears, the way he fretted over them. I think it's because of the Giant blood. He's half giant, remember?."

"I know. Too bad the human side of him doesn't have a chance against it. His brains are questionable, too." Cassie glared at the two of them, but didn't say anything. Harry had also turned to glare at them. 

"Don't talk badly about Hagrid."

"Oh, stuff it, Potter. We all know you like him. Typical of you. You're always hanging out with undesirables." Harry's eyes flared, and Cassie decided that she was really glad she was not an enemy of Harry's. 

"Do you care to elaborate on that, Dagger?" Harry pulled his wand out and Cassie swallowed. The other boy, who she suddenly recognized as the Quidditch team Keeper, pulled his out, too. 

"I think your girlfriend is evidence enough . . ." Cassie gasped. Ginny was talking to Ron and hadn't heard what was said. Harry's knuckles whitened on his wand. 

"Take that back, now!" His voice was low, controlled, but menacing and Cassie thought that it was no wonder Death Eaters were scared of him. He practically radiated power, no matter what he said. 

"I won't. It's the truth." Harry raised his wand as did the other student but Hagrid stepped in between them. 

"What's goin' on, Harry? What're ya fightin' about?"

"Nothing important, Hagrid." The big man looked between the two students, confused, but apparently unsure how to get them to admit the problem. 

"Well, then, put your wands away. We've got a lot to do today. Don't want'ya wastin' time." 

Harry tucked his wand away as did the other student, who Cassie thought looked secretly relieved although he kept up the brave front. They all turned back to Hagrid, who had climbed into the paddock and was trying to catch the chimera so that he could show them his front paws, apparently unique in the animal kingdom. Cassie just smiled faintly to herself. It may be hard here, but at least it was never boring. 


	29. An Incident in the Library

Chapter 29  
An Incident in the Library  
  
The rest of the Care of Magical Creatures lesson just went downhill from the beginning. Hagrid finally did manage to catch Shimmy and Cassie was interested to watch how he handled the ungainly looking creature. The tail, which Cassie suspected was at least part dragon, was whipping around and smacked Hagrid in the face at least once. However, it didn't seem to bother him and he just laughed and petted the thing. It had exposed its menacing-looking claws and tried to take a piece out of the big man currently trying to show his ears to a bunch of semi-terrified kids. He just patted the heavy paws telling it in a sing-song voice to put away his pretty claws as he was scaring everyone by trying to look scary.   
  
Cassie was very aware of the Hufflepuff student throughout the rest of the class, hoping that Harry wouldn't take it into his mind to hex him again. She didn't want Harry to get expelled and she suspected that being the famous Harry Potter wouldn't do much to save him if he cursed a fellow student with an unforgiveable. But the two boys glared at each other throughout the entire class and Cassie was tempted to volunteer both of them when Hagrid asked one more time for two students to come in and play with the baby chimera.   
  
After class, the four trudged with the rest of the students through the snow back up to the castle where everyone made an extra effort to wipe mud and snow off of the shoes before walking across the entry hall. Cassie overheard the Hufflepuff students complaining about how Filch had made them polish silver and scrub floors for their detention without using any magic. They were still upset about their detention although Cassie thought they should be grateful Harry hadn't cursed them into oblivion. Ginny had noticed Harry was rather tense and grumpy throughout the class and had asked what was wrong. Harry hadn't told her because that would mean he would have to say what Dagger had said and Cassie knew that he didn't want to hurt Ginny's feelings. But, Ginny seemed unwilling to drop the subject and the tension just built and built between them, which put Cassie's teeth on edge.   
  
Upon entering the Great Hall for lunch, Cassie and the others found Hermione absent-mindedly picking at a bowl of stew in front of her as she read a large, thick book. She barely looked up as Ron sat down beside her. He leaned over and kissed her on her cheek and she gave him a smile and then went back to reading. Ginny, Harry, and Cassie all sat down next to each other across from the two of them. Cassie was starved by now as she had not eaten very much breakfast. She served herself a big bowl of stew and listened as Ginny and Harry argued. Finally, she grabbed Ginny and said "Look, Ginny, Harry doesn't want to tell you what's wrong because it'll hurt your feelings. The Dagger kid insulted you and Harry felt like he had to defend you."  
  
"What did he say?" Harry scowled at Cassie but didn't try to stop her answering the question.   
  
"He said Harry is always hanging around with undesirables, like Hagrid, and then he said you were evidence that he told the truth." Ginny laughed and both Harry and Cassie blinked in surprise.   
  
"Look, Harry, I appreciate your trying to defend my honor and everything but I know he doesn't like me. He hasn't since last year."   
  
"Why not?" That earned Cassie another glare from Harry but she just glared back at him.   
  
"He asked me out. I told him no. Ever since then, he has insulted me whenever he has a chance. Most of the time he just ignores me but once in a while he manages to get an insult in."   
  
"What an idiot. So, Harry, maybe you should apologize for being grouchy to Ginny."  
  
Harry scowled one more time but then his expression cleared. "I should have just let you hex him, I suppose, rather than keeping it from you."  
  
Ginny smiled broadly. "Well, I appreciate your looking out for me, Harry. Even if I don't need it." Cassie looked away as the two of them kissed briefly. She had just taken her first bite of stew when Elspeth sat down next to her.   
  
"Hi. How are you doing?" The girl still looked pale and Colin wasn't with her, which worried Cassie.  
  
"I'm okay, I guess. Is Colin here?"  
  
"I haven't seen him but let's save him a spot."  
  
"Maybe he won't want to sit by me, though." Elspeth looked down at the table. "We had a bit of a fight."  
  
"There must be something in the water today." Ron and Hermione were now arguing over something although Cassie had no idea what it was. "What did you fight about?"   
  
"Do you need to ask? My parents' letter, of course."   
  
"Oh. I guess he was pretty insulted, huh?"  
  
"No."   
  
"No? Well, he certainly didn't agree with them, did he?"   
  
"Well, yes and no. He told me he really likes me and wants to be with me and get to know me better. But, then he said he didn't want me to be sad and have my parents angry with me. So, he suggested maybe we better not go out with each other anymore. I yelled at him and told him he was being as stupid as my parents and that I should be able to date whom I wanted." Elspeth hesitated for a moment. "He just glared at me and told me he'd be late for his next class, turned and walked away. Now I really don't know what to do."   
  
Cassie put her arm around Elspeth's shoulder and patted her. Ginny, who had turned and been listening to Elspeth's story, said "You definitely need to talk to him. It sounds like he's trying to do what is right for you rather than being selfish, so that's good."   
  
Elspeth gave a rather inelegant snort, and all three of them laughed. Then she sobered and said, "That's what I thought at first but all through class I just kept going over and over what he said. Maybe he's just using this as an excuse to get away from me." Both Ginny and Cassie just stared at her.   
  
"What makes you think that?"   
  
"I don't know, maybe I'm just being paranoid."   
  
"Here's your chance to find out. He's coming over here now." Colin came up behind Elspeth, smiling at both Ginny and Cassie, and put his hands on her shoulders.   
  
"Hi, Pia and Ginny. Elspeth, can I sit down?" The girl didn't say anything, just nodded and scooted closer to Cassie. Colin sat down next to her.   
  
"I want to talk to you, okay? Right after lunch?" She nodded again but Cassie thought she looked a lot happier, even if she hadn't said anything. Both Colin and Elspeth ate quickly and Cassie wasn't surprised when a few minutes later they both got up.   
  
"I guess I'll see you two later," Elspeth said, blushing slightly as Colin took her hand.   
  
"Have a good time." Cassie wanted to say something about not letting stupid social prejudices keep the two of them apart, but bit her tongue. They would work it out. And if they couldn't, well, her opinion didn't really matter anyway.   
  
Harry and Ron were talking about an essay they both had due this afternoon. "I've still got to look up one more thing, Harry. Come with me to the library."   
  
"Well, okay. Ginny, is that all right?"  
  
"Of course. Have a good time, you two. Don't get into trouble." Ginny and Hermione both laughed at the looks on their boyfriends' faces.   
  
Hermione couldn't resist getting in the last word, though. "You really should be better organized, Ron. Then you wouldn't be trying to do these things at the last minute." Ron just rolled his eyes. Harry and Ron gave their respective girlfriends a quick goodby kiss and hurried out of the Great Hall. "Ginny, I wanted to show you something in this book. There's a spell in here that I think would make our next Transfiguration class much easier." Ginny pushed her remaining stew across the table and then got up and went around the end of the table to sit next to Hermione. The two girls consulted, their heads close together over the book.   
  
A few minutes later, Cassie was finishing her pumpkin juice and Hermione her treacle pudding when she noticed Draco Malfoy making his way over to the three of them. She groaned and whispered his name to the other two girls whose backs were to him. Ginny scowled in displeasure.   
  
"Hey, Spencer, it's a short school day today for you, isn't it?" He didn't wait for an answer but continued. "I have a great idea for this afternoon. Why don't I take you on a personal tour of the Astronomy Tower?"  
  
Cassie felt her cheeks turn pink and she stared at Draco while the other two girls rolled their eyes. "And tell me how you expect to see stars in the middle of the afternoon?"  
  
"Well," Draco drawled as he eyed her over appreciatively, "I guess it all depends on how long we're up there. It gets dark pretty early in the day right now. If we stay up there long enough, we may see stars, sun bursts and all kinds of celestial wonders."  
  
Cassie felt her face go from pink to crimson as Ginny's eyes grew wide with shock. Hermione's eyebrows arched and she turned and looked at Malfoy in a very calm and head-girl like manner. "I hope you weren't really suggesting what I think you were, Malfoy. As you well know, there are rules against that kind of behavior. I'll write you up if necessary."   
  
He glared at Hermione. "Oh don't get your knickers in a wad, Granger. I wasn't suggesting anything indecent. You're just jealous that the twit you call your boyfriend only likes to snog with you privately in empty classrooms or dark broom closets." Hermione flushed. Cassie wished she could disappear as everyone still left at the Gryffindor table was staring at the little tableau with undisguised interest. This was getting intolerable. "Anyway, I was just hypothesizing as to whether or not it was possible to see stars in the middle of the day. Naturally, much experimentation must be conducted before we know the answer. What about it, Spencer? Care to help me with this delicate but most assuredly enjoyable test?"   
  
Cassie, who had been staring at him in disbelief and embarrassment , finally found her voice. "You lay one finger on me Malfoy, and the only stars you'll be seeing are the ones dancing around your closed eyelids when I punch you in the nose." Several of the onlookers laughed, which made it worse, in Cassie's opinion.   
  
Malfoy glanced around at the audience. "Ooh, you're feisty, Pia. I like feisty women - they're so much more fun."  
  
Ginny finally turned and pulled out her wand. "Get lost, Malfoy, or I'll do the bat bogey curse on you . . . again. And you better be careful because I've taught Pia how to do that curse and she's just itching to try it out on someone." Cassie took her cue and pulled her own wand out of her sleeve.  
  
Draco Malfoy just scowled again. "I think you two need to let Spencer decide on her own friends." He winked at Cassie but he stepped back. "If you decide you want to, uh, conduct this experiment, I'll be in the library this afternoon." He turned on his heel after one final smirk at the three of them. Cassie watched him as he headed out of the Great Hall, amazed that anyone could be as dense as he was being about things.   
  
Cassie turned back to the table and looked at Hermione, who still had a disgusted look on her face, and Ginny, who was still glaring after him. "Who was his last girlfriend?"  
  
Both girls gave Cassie startled looks, obviously not following her train of thought. "I think it was Chemenne Croxall, a fifth-year Slytherin girl. Why do you care?"  
  
"Well, I was just wondering if she used to beat him up or something. I mean, I've tried to be as mean as possible and he's not only not discouraged, I think he enjoys it. So, I was just kind of curious."  
  
A slight smile crossed Hermione's face and she blushed a little. "I don't even want to think about what they could have done together." The other two girls looked at her in surprise and then they all began to laugh and make gagging noises. The rest of the table lost interest quickly now that Draco had left much to Cassie's relief and she relaxed. She hoped that he wouldn't keep pursuing her. She had made it as clear as possible that she wasn't interested but he just ignored all her protests.   
  
Ginny stood up a minute later. "Muggle Studies next, Pia. Are you ready?"  
  
"Uh, I think so." They walked down the hall toward a part of the castle she had never been to before. "Why are you taking this class, Ginny?"   
  
"My Dad really wanted one of us kids to take it. He thought it would be helpful to have a working knowledge of Muggles in the family. But one by one, all of the boys lost interest in it. It kind of broke his heart, so, I decided I would persevere. It's not a bad class, really. And Harry helps me with the homework. That helps."   
  
"Ron had Hermione, though. Why did he lose interest?"   
  
"Ron never had interest. He never took the class to begin with. He's not that great of a student and this doesn't help with his career choice, so it would just be extra work."   
  
"Ah. I see."   
  
"I thought after this class, we could work on some homework."  
  
"You promised me a nap, but okay. If you insist." A few minutes later they stepped into the classroom, finding a spot toward the back. There were quite a few students already in the room, milling about and talking. Cassie stayed in her seat although Ginny got up to visit with some of the other students. The decorations were obviously meant to show Muggle life although they didn't do a very good job of it. The pictures were old-fashioned and very fake looking, capturing people in unnatural situations rather than everyday life.   
  
Then, there were posters of household objects with their names written largely across the top. "Microwave oven," "Toaster" and "Telephone" were the ones closest to her. She could see that there were descriptions of what each of these things did written underneath. "Whole thing just to make hot water." "Makes toast but is notoriously unreliable." "Works like fire-talking, allowing conversation over long distances." This last one didn't make any sense to her, but she remembered vaguely that George had told her once that she could fire-talk to him if she wanted to. She wanted to find Ginny to ask about it but decided she better not make a scene. She could ask her later.   
  
The professor came in and all the students hurried back to their seats. "Today we are going to talk about a very important part of Muggle life, class. That is popular entertainment. Muggle life is rather dull and boring so to distract themselves from this, they have many entertainment choices and Muggles make really good use of them, spending hours and hours each day participating in them. If you'll all open your books to page 142, you'll see a list of the most popular forms of entertainment and some of the more widely known examples of each. Who can read the first one?"   
  
Cassie opened her book to the required page and glanced down, wondering what these could possibly be. The professor seemed to have a fairly strange opinion as to why people liked popular entertainment. Her questions were answered and she really wished they weren't.   
  
"Television" a student read off. "The programs on television change frequently, but some of the more popular ones currently are . . ." Cassie looked up with wide eyes at the professor, who was nodding seriously as the student read the list. None of these programs were ever intended for anyone but children and they were all at least 10 years old as she remembered watching them as a young girl. Did they really think adults liked these types of programs? Apparently, they did.   
  
"That's right. Very good. Yes, the Muggle government knows that their people need repeated instruction on some of the basic laws of civilized society, so they have come up with these programs to reinforce desirable societal norms. I have a few excerpts I would like to show you today." The lights went down and the moving images appeared on the wall. Cassie put her head in her hands and groaned. The small puppets were singing about being kind to others. It was a fun song, a catchy tune. She had sung it many times, especially to her younger brothers when they were picking on each other, but he was acting like all people sang this to remind them to be social to each other.   
  
The class basically was like this for the entire two hours. They discussed movies and all the examples were either animated Disney features or extremely gory murder mysteries. They discussed music and it was all extremely basic folk songs like "Row, row, row your boat" and the like. They discussed video games, although the ones mentioned were extremely rudimentary like Pac-Man or Pong. Hardly the best of a now widely varied source of entertainment. They discussed the burgeoning world of the Internet, which Cassie thought would be impressive for students who still had to write each other using owls for heaven's sake, but as the professor discussed its use only as an advertising tool or a way to find pornography, not even mentioning e-mail or instant messaging, no one was exactly awed. Cassie had several times wanted to raise her hand and complain about the fact that the professor was acting like the mental age of all Muggles was about 7, but she never did. He seemed to like Muggles, in general, and actually reminded Cassie quite a bit of Arthur. She remembered Arthur's fascination with everything in her house and how he watched Muggles as they had traveled on the Underground.   
  
As they stood up after the bell rang and headed out of the classroom, Cassie felt actually pretty depressed. Maybe she should have been amused, but she wasn't. It was apparent now what she had previously missed in her interactions. It wasn't just that Wizards realized Muggles did not have magical powers. No that wasn't it at all. They thought they were stupid, childish, and immature. They felt they were like children, following blindly wherever they were led, too stupid to see the magic all around them, and easily duped into believing whatever the more powerful wizards chose to tell them. No wonder the two worlds did not interact well. They did not view Muggles as equals. Instead they were just extremely annoying youngsters whom you tried to get rid of while you were doing something more important. Cassie now saw that she may have mistaken even Arthur's interest as a desire to learn about something different. That wasn't it, at all. Now she saw it for what it was, an attempt to find out how these pitiful creatures managed to function in the big, bad world. She wasn't sure whether to scream or cry. She personally thought it was amazing that Ron or Ginny didn't offer to tie her trainers for her. If she had been anything like the Muggles the professor portrayed, she wouldn't have been able to figure out how.   
  
"Well . . . what did you think? You didn't seem too impressed by the class."   
  
"Should I have been?"   
  
"I thought it was interesting."   
  
"That scares me, Ginny. It really scares me."   
  
"What do you mean?"   
  
"The fact you have to ask me that is not comforting. Did you say Hermione took this class?"  
  
"Yeah, for one year." Ginny sounded a little defensive. Cassie wanted to explain but didn't even know where to start. "Was it that bad?"   
  
Cassie opened her mouth to say that yes, it had been that bad, a pack of lies, and a slanted look at anything non-magical, but then she realized she wasn't being fair to Ginny. She wasn't going to be able to change all Wizard perceptions about Muggles in just one afternoon. She was just going to have to keep being a good example of something with slightly more intelligence than a sea slug. She shut her mouth again and took a deep breath in through her nose. "No. His information was just out of date. That's all."   
  
"Oh." Ginny looked a lot happier. "That's true. Harry said some of this stuff was even before he was born." Cassie just nodded. They walked in silence back to their dorm, where they grabbed their other books and headed into the library to get some homework done. Cassie smiled and talked on cue and tried to relax. Nothing had changed between her and Ginny, she told herself. She shouldn't let what some professor had said ruin things. No one had ever treated her with anything but kindness and they had seemed to be impressed with her capabilities to at least do some things. She was determined to put this behind her. But she did want to talk to Hermione to find out how she dealt with things. That would have to wait until later, though, when they could have some privacy.   
  
They worked for a while on homework together. "I've got to work on that essay for Potions, Ginny. I think I'll need a book on Pepper-up Potion. Any ideas where I can find one?" She shook her head in amazement when Ginny said that no, there was no catalog or index of the library's holdings, that things were just in basic categories and she would just have to look through the books on the shelves to find what she wanted. "And they think we're backward" she muttered to herself as she bent over to look at a lower shelf, hoping to find a book Ginny had recommended. When she stood up, she about had a heart attack. Draco Malfoy was standing no more than two feet from her with an extremely satisfied look on his face.   
  
"I see you've taken my up on my offer, Spencer. And you managed to get rid of your shadow, too. Good." Cassie had an extremely bad word pop into her head. She had forgotten that Draco said to meet him in the library. If she had remembered, she and Ginny would have stayed in Gryffindor. Now she was all alone with Draco and she couldn't let her guard down for a minute. If he even suspected she was not a full-blooded witch, it could mean death for herself or her family. She swallowed hard.   
  
"I didn't come here to meet you, Draco. I've got homework. That's the only reason Ginny and I came to the library."   
  
"Oh, come on. I know you don't mean that. Look, I managed to get reservations and everything."  
  
"Reservations?" Cassie was confused.   
  
"Yeah. The astronomy tower is a popular place. Some idiot Ravenclaw keeps the books. It was a lot of work to track him down and get our names down."   
  
"Our names down . . . in a book?" Cassie felt sick at the thought of her name being written down with his.   
  
"Yes. And two fourth-year Hufflepuffs had already booked this afternoon, so I had to grease the git's palm to get us in." Cassie just stared at him stupidly. "It cost quite a bit, but I did it. You're worth it. Let's go on up before all our time is used up."   
  
"I'm not going up into the astronomy tower with you, Draco. I don't care how much it cost you."   
  
"You're being awfully stubborn. I won't attack you or anything. We can just talk. Then, if something changes and you're interested. . . well, we can do whatever you want."   
  
"I don't understand this at all. Why are you so interested in me? I mean . . you hate my family! You hate everything about me! Just find someone else to snog with. Maybe if you hurry, you can still get up there before your time slot is gone."   
  
"I don't want to find anyone else. I just want to go up there with you. And I don't hate all your family, obviously. I don't hate you." Somehow, the look he was giving her made her extremely nervous. She comforted herself by thinking that all she had to do was scream and the nosy librarian would be there in two seconds. So, if he got any more pushy, she would just scream. But she would definitely wait as she had a feeling that the librarian would not be too impressed. She also thought it wouldn't be much longer before Ginny came to check on her. She belatedly realized that maybe she should pull her wand out and threaten him with it. It had worked earlier when Ginny had done it. She pulled the narrow wand out of her sleeve and held it up. "Go away, Draco. I know how to do the bat-bogey hex and I'm pretty sure you don't want to have that happen." Draco stopped for a second, looking at her carefully. Then, he took one step closer and grabbed the wand out of her hand.   
  
"You weren't really going to use that on me. I could tell." Cassie stared with horror at her wand which was now held firmly in his hand. He tucked her wand into his robe pocket and pulled his out. He stepped closer to her again, this time pushing against her so that she was firmly sandwiched between the hard cases behind her and him. He traced his wand carefully over her chin and she almost fainted before remembering to breathe. "Stop fighting this, Pia. You've made the requisite protests. You can give in now, and no one will think worse of you."   
  
"I don't want to go up to the astronomy tower with you or anywhere else for that matter, Draco." Before she could really elaborate she heard a sharp intake of breath and Ginny's voice carried down the narrow aisle.   
  
"Get away from her, Malfoy. She's told you she's not interested." She had her wand out and it was lowered menacingly at the blond boy who was smirking at her.   
  
"Please, Weasley. Do you think she needs a keeper or something? If she wants me to leave, I'll leave."  
  
"Leave, Draco, please. And don't bother me anymore."   
  
"You heard what she said, Malfoy. Get away from her." Draco stepped away from her although he didn't go far.   
  
"And give me back my wand." Draco smirked at her.   
  
"Whatever you want, Pia. Always." And he handed her the wand, which she instantly put back into her sleeve. Ginny was staring at the Slytherin boy with malice and he seemed to realize his plans were once again thwarted. He reached out and tweaked a strand of her hair and then turned and walked away, disappearing further in the stacks.   
  
"Oh, Merlin, Pia. He's starting to scare me."   
  
Cassie took a deep breath. The entire exchange had frightened her a great deal but she didn't want to admit how much. "Me, too. I don't know what to do. I don't want to slink around the school terrified that I might run into him."   
  
"Hmm. Maybe Harry or Hermione will have an idea. 'Cause you're right. We've got to do something to get rid of him on a more permanent basis. Maybe Dumbledore wouldn't blame us if Harry killed him. Or a good Cruciatus curse might do it." Cassie smiled at Ginny's obvious attempt at humor although her knees were shaking.   
  
"Come on. Let's go back to the common room. I'll just ask Hermione for help with the essay. She won't complain, I bet." She felt extremely relieved when 15 minutes later she was safely behind the painting of the fat lady and there was no way Draco could find her. She stood by the fire for a few minutes and smiled much more calmly when Hermione approached her about 20 minutes after that.  
  
"Harry told me what happened last night with Snape."   
  
"Oh, yeah. I think maybe I was just confused." She really didn't want to talk about this now. She had just had an extremely unpleasant encounter and she knew she wasn't up to another one. Hermione was sure to yell at her for letting Snape into her brain in the first place, and tell her that she had taken foolish risks, endangered everyone, etc.   
  
"I don't think you were confused. How would you have known what it was like to have Legilemency on you if he didn't do it?"  
  
"He did do it. No question about that, Hermione. I was just obviously confused about what I did. Harry said that I couldn't have, um, you know, stopped those memories or . . . looked into his."   
  
"Well, he was wrong. I looked some things up in the Library." Cassie smiled to herself though she kept her face calm. "It turns out that Muggles can stop Legilemency as easily as a witch or wizard can. Usually they have to be trained but it really is just a matter of mind control mixed with a bit of natural empathetic awareness, which you have in abundance. We've known that for a long time. And you said your mum said you have always been really good at telling what people were thinking."   
  
"Yes. That's true."   
  
"To me, then, it's obvious what happened. His mind was poking around in yours and you were able to take control of the situation because of your natural connection with what others are feeling."   
  
"That makes sense I guess."   
  
"And then once the connection between you was established, it was fairly easy for you to use that empathic connection to draw his memories out."   
  
"So . . . you're telling me I didn't do magic."   
  
"Oh, I didn't say that." Hermione laughed. "Anyone that can annoy Snape is doing magic in my book." Both girls laughed and Cassie felt the last of her bad mood slip away. It had been a difficult day, after all. The classes had been easy enough but there had been enough drama, pain, and angst anyway. She was just glad she had not had Potions or Transfiguration today. If she had, she may have had to do herself in. And Remus thought she could stay for another week and a half? She would be lucky if she made it through tomorrow. And she meant that literally.


	30. The Other Side of the Story

Chapter 30  
The Other Side of the Story  
  
Cassie, Ginny, Hermione and Ron happily closed their books and put away quills and parchments about six that evening. Harry had come in a little earlier and told Ginny that he had a meeting with Professor Dumbledore before dinner. Cassie immediately thought that the meeting was about her but Harry assured her that this time it was nothing related to her situation. Cassie was a lot happier about that at first but from the slightly worried expression on Ginny's face she realized that maybe she was not realizing the seriousness of this. Harry left and Cassie turned to Ginny. "Is something wrong? I thought Harry talked to Professor Dumbledore all the time."  
  
"Well, he does . . . but it always worries me. It shouldn't I guess. He said he'd see us in a few minutes. I'm probably worrying over nothing." She smiled but Cassie could tell it was extremely forced. A few minutes later, the four of them headed down to dinner, hoping that they would meet Harry as they went.   
  
As they walked down the corridors to descend into the Great Hall, Ginny and Cassie recounted the story of what had happened with Draco in the library.   
  
"What is with him?" Ron asked. "I just don't get it. You've told him to get lost. There are tons of other girls in this school who would love to go out with him. I just don't know why he's being so . . . annoying."  
  
Cassie's stomach clenched in fear as she whispered the one thing that secretly terrified her about Draco's seeming obsession with her. She glanced around to assure they were alone. "Maybe he knows about me. Maybe he's just keeping tabs on me for his father." The other three stopped so suddenly that she literally ran into Ginny.   
  
"No, no. That's not how they work." Ginny was quite sure about this and seemed anxious for Cassie to realize it, too. "If he was on to you, he'd have actually hurt you rather than just, uh, I guess flirted with you. He'd have just stunned you or silenced you and dragged you out of the library or something."   
  
Cassie's stomach sank again as she realized what Ginny had just said. "He could have just done a silencing charm on me, couldn't he have?"   
  
"Sure. If he wanted to. Why?" Ginny and Ron were both looking at Cassie with concern. She was sure her face was totally white and she felt faint.   
  
"I just . . . I was so nervous but I kept thinking that if I really got in trouble, I could scream. But, if I were really in trouble, he wouldn't have let me. I just realized what horrible danger I was in, I guess."   
  
Ron cussed rather loudly. Hermione didn't correct him. Ginny then added what she obviously thought was the clincher on the story. "He took her wand, too. I saw him give it back to her afterward."   
  
"He took your wand?" Hermione looked quite upset about this. "Why? What did he say?"   
  
"Well, I had pulled it out to threaten him with it. I thought maybe it would make him back away. He just said I wasn't going to use it on him and he reached out and took it. I tried to grab it back, I think, but he put it in his pocket. That's when Ginny came."   
  
They walked in silence for a few minutes as another group of students caught up with them and passed them. Hermione was the first one to speak after they were alone again in the hallway. "As for his being so . . . stubborn, I don't think that's anything we have to worry about. He's just not used to being denied anything. So, he thinks you'll come around. Even more than that, though, is the fact that most of the school, or at least his friends, know he's been trying to hook up with you. If he gave up now, he'd look like a fool. So my guess is that he'll get worse before he gets better. But I recommend you never draw your wand on him again, Pia, without one of us to back you up. You can tell when someone is about to cast a spell, there's a certain . . . oh, force in the eyes. He'd be able to tell from a mile away you weren't really ready to do anything."   
  
"We've got to do something, Hermione. Something permanent." Ginny was obviously quite concerned.   
  
"I think you should just knee him in the groin, Pia. That'll teach him a lesson." Pia blushed bright red as she looked at Ron.   
  
"Um, I guess I could do that. But it wouldn't be permanent." Ron laughed in response.   
  
"Could be long lasting, though. What do you think, Hermione?"   
  
"I don't think that's a really good idea, Ron. For one thing, if he really wants to avoid that, he can easily put either a leg locking spell or a petrifying spell on her, and then she'd really be in a bad way. So, she'd just be upping the ante, so to speak, making herself even more vulnerable."   
  
"I wish I knew how to hex him for real. That scares him away from Ginny." The group of them were now descending the steps and the entrance hall was crowded with students so they couldn't really talk freely.   
  
"I'd hex him on your behalf. . . you know, so he'd think it was from you. But you'd get in all sorts of trouble. Probably get detention and everything. Maybe with Filch if you're caught in the corridors."   
  
"Filch doesn't scare me."   
  
"He should. Look, the point is . . ." Ginny leaned very close to Cassie so that she could speak without being overheard, " . . . when you told what he had been doing, you'd probably both be in detention together. And I really don't think that's a good idea."   
  
They had reached the entrance hall and they couldn't speak anymore, but Cassie let an idea form in her mind. If she told one of the professors what Draco was doing, maybe he'd get in trouble and then be forced to leave her alone. And even if she did get detention, they certainly wouldn't make her be in the same room with him unsupervised. That would just be ridiculous, if he were being punished for harassing her. So, she decided that she would do that. It might be sort of underhanded and sneaky, but if it kept him away from her, it would be worth it.  
  
Ginny looked around for a moment before they actually entered the Great Hall and then did a thorough scan of the Gryffindor table, obviously looking for Harry. But he was nowhere to be seen. "I'm sure he'll be here in a minute, Ginny," Ron said. "We've got Quidditch practice tonight, after all, and he won't want to miss dinner. Don't worry so much about him." Ginny grimaced, obviously not pleased with the advice.   
  
They all ate fairly quietly, talking softly and now all four of them were shooting concerned glances at the doorway every few seconds and Cassie couldn't help but look at her watch to notice that it had really been quite a long time since Harry had got to the Headmaster's office. The food was good, chicken and mashed potatoes, and Cassie enjoyed it. The cooking here was really good although certainly heavier than she was used to at home. Cassie enjoyed the dinner and conversation, and even took seconds on the salad and mashed potatoes. Ron and Hermione, who had been having yet another lively discussion, had finally stopped arguing about the lack of vegetables on his plate and Neville, who had sat down next to Ron, had made them laugh with his description of an exam from which he had just come. The only down side to the dinner was when Cassie noticed Draco Malfoy eyeing her with a smug expression. She did her best to ignore him and focus on the conversation.   
  
Finally, Harry walked through the doors into the Hall and Cassie breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't exactly sure what she had been worried about, but she had certainly sensed Ginny's concern and was glad now that they could all relax. Harry approached them and stood behind Ginny, his hands on her shoulders. Where Cassie thought that Ginny should be all smiles and relaxed giggles now, the redhead was tense and there was a stiffness in her movements that had not been there a few minutes before.   
  
"Ginny." Cassie watched as Ginny bit her lip and closed her eyes. "I need to talk to you."   
  
"Okay, Harry." Ginny stood up from her barely-touched meal and Cassie glanced over at Hermione and Ron who were also sitting there, pale and stiff. Ginny stood up from the table and Harry took her arm. They walked down the table and out the doors.   
  
"I can't . . . I won't let him. Not again!" Ron was standing up to follow his sister out the doorway, but Hermione grabbed his sleeve.   
  
"There's no use arguing, Ron. Nothing's changed." Ron sat down, scowling, but didn't take his eyes off the door. Cassie wanted to ask what was wrong, but she was too frightened to do it. She had a growing terror in her heart and she was afraid to find out that she was right. So, instead she stared at the table and tried not to break down into tears. A few moments later, both Harry and Ginny walked into the Great Hall again, hand in hand. Ginny looked wan, but her jaw was set. Cassie could tell that she was on the verge of hysteria, and she held Harry's hand like it was the only anchor holding her together.   
  
"Ron, Hermione. I've got to go again. We've got really good information this time and I think this may be it." He opened his mouth to say more but closed it again. Cassie knew then that her fear was realized. Harry smiled warmly at all four of them. "I need to leave now. I'll see you later, okay? I promise."  
  
"Harry -" Hermione spit out quickly. "Be careful, okay? Don't take foolish chances."   
  
"I want to come with you, Harry." Ron had stood up again but Harry just nodded.   
  
"I know. You can't. I'll be all right. Don't worry so much." And then he turned and he was gone. Cassie stared with blurry vision at the door he had gone through. It was unbelievable to her. That was it? No . . . nothing? He was just gone. Tonight? Now? She had the wildly inappropriate thought that this probably meant Ron would have to cancel Quidditch practice, but she bit her lip in sudden pain. Ginny was still standing behind her and Cassie stood quickly, grabbing her hand.   
  
"Come on. Let's go upstairs." She didn't know why, but she wanted more than anything at that moment to be away from all the prying eyes and knowing looks and she imagined Ginny felt the same way. Not too many people had really noticed what had happened although their standing at the table was starting to draw some questioning eyes. Neville looked upset and his hand was shaking as he laid his fork down but he made no comment. She dared a glance over at Draco, who had been watching the whole scene. He flashed a very joyful smile and any thought of relaxing her guard around him suddenly flew out of her mind. He obviously knew what was going on and was happy! Cassie felt suddenly sick and swore that if she did throw up, she would make sure it was over by him!   
  
Ron and Hermione stood up, unmindful as was Ginny of that nasty smile, and the small group trudged up the dark staircases and long halls until they reached the fat lady, who had always seemed welcoming to Cassie but now just looked foreign and out of place.   
  
"Jingle Bells" Ron managed to croak out and all four of them slid through into the silence of the empty room. Cassie was unsure, now, what to do. She wanted to somehow offer some words of comfort, but knew they would be stupid. She had no idea what Harry was going to be doing tonight, other than facing Voldemort. They knew it all better than she did so for her to offer trite platitudes like "I'm sure he'll come back" would be grating and out of place. Instead, they all sat down and stared at each other. Long minutes passed in total quiet, no one willing to break the calm, as if they were all afraid that if they did, all four of them would shatter into a million pieces.   
  
When the portrait hole opened after a seemingly endless five minutes, and some laughing young Gryffindors came into the common room, the stunning spell dissipated and all four of them looked around, seeming to come back to reality. "I guess I better let everyone know practice is canceled. We could play without him, but I don't think I'm up for it." He took a small round object out of his pocket and tapped it twice with his wand.   
  
"What is that?" Cassie couldn't help but ask, even though she supposed it was not really the best thing to be doing at the moment. Still, it was all she could think to say. She was surprised that the words came out sounding fairly normal. Her throat was so tight that she thought they would come out as a squeak.   
  
"It's a . . . Protean-Charmed miniature snitch. Hermione made them for the team last year. Quite brilliant, really." At Cassie's blank look, Ron explained farther. "We all have one. When I, usually, need to tell everyone else on the team something, I can use this as a sort of . . . message board. Two taps means practice canceled and then their snitches get warm and they can pull them out of their pocket and read what it says. See. Ginny, get yours out, would you?"   
  
"Sorry, what?" Ginny looked blankly at Ron. " Did you say something?"   
  
"No. It's all right. Never mind." Ron put the miniature snitch back in his robe pocket. "It's a complicated charm, bloody brilliant of her to figure it out. She did it first during fifth year, for the D.A." He snapped his jaw shut suddenly and walked away from Cassie. All four of them dutifully got out their school books and stared at them for a long time and then got out parchment and stared at it for a long time. Cassie didn't say anything more and was glad that she didn't have any homework due the next day. Cassie glanced at her watch ever so often, amazed at how slowly time was creeping by. By 10, they had all given up any pretense of getting any studying done. Ginny sat on the couch in a place that Cassie had realized very early on was her favorite. She had picked up one of the throw pillows and was holding it against her, staring at the flickering flames of the fireplace like they held the mysteries of the universe.   
  
Ron and Hermione were drifting around the common room, visiting occasionally with someone but generally just watching as the other students played games or worked on other projects. By 10:30 all four of them were sitting around the fire and Cassie was grateful for its warmth. She was so cold, so absolutely frozen, and the heat from the hearth seemed to be the only thing keeping her alive. Ginny was shivering slightly and Cassie wondered if there was a blanket or something she could throw over her.   
  
Cassie honestly didn't know what had made her realize something as she sat there, feeling Ginny's rapid tremors, staring into the flames, but she instantly had an abject horrid crash into reality and the pain of it was so intense that she gasped, making the other three look up at her in curiosity. Cassie tried to explain, but after a few stammered words, she gave up and no one pushed her to complete her thoughts. Cassie suddenly realized that she was seeing things from the other side, now. Harry had gone out one evening last June for a battle that could have been much like this one. He had said goodbye to Ron and Hermione and told them not to worry. He had told them, promised them, that he would come back soon. And then . . . he hadn't. He hadn't come back.   
  
Cassie could feel a huge lump forming in the back of her throat and she tried to swallow so that she wouldn't break down in tears. Ginny did not need that. Ginny needed her to be strong for her. But Cassie honestly was not sure she could manage it. They had thought he was dead. For three weeks, they had lived with the sure conviction that he never would come back from that battle. That he would never smile at them again or that his green eyes would never again flash behind his glasses. That he would never slide through the portrait hole again. That he would never again fly. The ache was overwhelming, and Cassie stood up, muttered something about needing to use the toilet, and she ran out of the common room. She pushed the heels of her palms hard into her eyes as she stood in the toilet, her back against the cold wall. She had to get it together. He hadn't died then. He wasn't going to die tonight. He had survived all these other times . . . tonight was no different, was it? But still . . . somewhere in her brain she kept imaging the scene if he didn't come back. A horrible replay for them. A first time terror for her. She cried for what seemed like hours, although she knew it was no longer than 10 minutes. Then she rinsed her eyes carefully with cold water, and patted her face dry. She took a deep calming breath and climbed the remaining steps to her bedroom. She said hello to Saffron and Rhiannon and then pulled her heavy comforter off the bed and carried it downstairs as she went to rejoin her friends. Cassie tucked it around Ginny carefully, and Ginny smiled faintly in gratitude as Cassie tried to make sure she was completely wrapped. Her shivering diminished slightly.   
  
The common room gradually emptied. Neville had spoken briefly to them as he went up to bed and Elspeth and Colin also came over to offer encouragement. This was all acknowledged with gratitude and a false bravado that Harry knew what he was doing and that they really shouldn't worry. If anyone should be worrying, it should be the Death Eaters, but Cassie remembered that sickening smile on Draco's face, and knew that it wasn't really that easy. At 11:30, Neville and Seamus came down dressed in their bathrobes to see if they had received any word. Ginny's pale face had moved sideways in a negative response. The two boys had turned and gone back up the steps to their dorm - to Harry's dorm - when Ginny gasped. Cassie turned immediately toward her but Ginny was just staring with rapt attention at the flames. "I saw it! They sent it!" Her face looked suddenly calm and Cassie wondered if she was having hallucinations.   
  
"Are you sure?" Ron looked skeptically at his sister. Apparently the thought of hallucinations was in his mind, also.   
  
"Yes, I'm positive. They should send it again in a minute." Cassie stared at the fire along with Ron and Hermione, but Ginny closed her eyes for the first time all evening and leaned back against the arm of the couch. For one instant, the flames of the fire burned bright green, almost flourescent, and then they burned yellow again. Cassie started, stared, and looked at Hermione to see if she was also having hallucinations. Maybe they were all losing their minds. But Hermione had gotten the same look of almost heavenly calm on her face that Ginny had and Cassie had the brief thought that maybe something in the fire was hypnotizing them. "Did you see it, Ron?" Ginny asked, her eyes closed, her face pointed up to the ceiling.   
  
"Yes. You were right. It's over." Cassie wanted to ask what was going on but the atmosphere of relief was so thick that she knew that whatever happened with the flames had something to do with Harry - and that somehow it told them Harry was okay. Ron stood up and paced around their little enclave of couch and chairs. "This is the last time I let him go alone. I hate this. I hate having him leave and I'm sitting here like a big lump of pudding."   
  
"Ron." Hermione sounded pleading, like she didn't even want to think about Ron going. Not that Cassie could blame her. "You know they won't let you go until you join the Order and you can't do that until after you finish school."   
  
"Yeah, I know that's the case. But I may not wait for permission next time. I may just go with him anyway." Cassie saw Hermione pale again but she sensed that this was not the time for a pointless argument.   
  
"I'm sure Harry would love to have you there." Ginny said that rather suddenly, looking up and directly at Ron. "He once said he misses you." Hermione snorted.   
  
"I'm going up to bed. Tomorrow is going to be a long day as it is." She walked toward the stairs. "Are you coming up, Pia?" Cassie looked at Ginny who had closed her eyes and leaned against the back of the couch again. She was still wrapped in her bedding, so unless she pried it off her - which she really did not want to do - or used Ginny's bedding, there was no use going up the stairs. She wanted to stay with Ginny and keep her company. After all Ginny had done for her, this was the least she could do.   
  
"Uh, I'll stay up with Ginny, unless of course, you'd prefer to wait alone."   
  
Ginny smiled, "No, I'd love to have you stay with me."  
  
The girls settled back down on the couch and again stared into the fire. After a short time Cassie looked at Ginny. "How long does it usually take for Harry to return?"   
  
"It all depends on what's going on. It shouldn't be too much longer."   
  
"Oh Ginny, I don't know how you can handle the stress of watching Harry go off and waiting to see if he returns. Is it this bad all the time?   
  
"Basically. What choice do I have, though, Pia, except to be patient and wait. I've seen the alternative, and it's not good."  
  
"Oh. I'm sorry, Ginny. I didn't mean to bring up a bad memory."  
  
"It's okay, Pia. It's over. Harry's alive and that's what matters."   
  
"So the green flame was some sort of signal?"  
  
"Yes. Dad knows how worried we always are so he uses a little Floo powder thrown into a fireplace to tell us the news."   
  
"That's really nice of him." Cassie seriously debated whether to bring this up but decided that she really did want to know. "I bet it was horrible to be waiting for the green flame to appear and it never did."  
  
Ginny gave a wan smile. "Dad just started that this year, for me. After the battle here in June."   
  
"Oh." Now she felt like an idiot.  
  
"But it was terrible. But that night he went I had to continue to act like I didn't care. I waited for a while with Ron and Hermione and then went up to bed. I didn't want to be seen by Harry and let him know how much I cared. I laid up there in my bed waiting to hear Hermione's footsteps on the stairs so I'd know he was back and was OK. I waited and waited, and finally fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion. When I woke up in the morning, I assumed he had comeback and I'd see the three of them in the commons room or at breakfast. They weren't there in the commons room, nor the Great Hall. I know something was seriously wrong. I picked at my food and kept looking for them to come walking in and everything would be back to normal. I had even decided to forget the stupid angry act and let him know I'd never stopped loving him." Ginny's eyes watered and she fought to hold back the tears again. Cassie waited patiently for Ginny to continue. "I knew there was something wrong. I could tell. Rumors were already being whispered about. Professor McGonagal came in and walked toward me. It was obvious she had been crying. She came up to me and asked me to come with her. I thought I was going to faint. I was sitting next to Elspeth and she literally had to help hold me up. We . . . we went to Dumbledore's office and . . . Oh God! I thought I was going to die. I wanted to die. I had no hope and no purpose. I would have died if it hadn't been for my family and friends. It was the worst experience in my life. I don't think I could do it again."   
  
Cassie put her arm around her and quietly comforted her. She marveled to herself how Ginny or any of the others could continue to handle the stress and turmoil of having loved ones go off to fight night after night. "And I didn't know any of this until Ron and Hermione showed up on Harry's front porch. I never, in my wildest dreams, would have guessed about any of this."  
  
Ginny looked at Cassie appraisingly. "I know. May I ask you a question? What did Harry say about me? Did he talk about me before Ron and Hermione showed up?"  
  
"Yes. He did mention you. Several times. It was obvious he really cared about you. I . . . uh, saw how much he cared before he ever came back."  
  
"Oh, Pia. I'm so sorry." Cassie just tightened her arm around the other girl.   
  
"You have no reason to apologize. You have been absolutely wonderful, you know." Ginny took a deep shuddering breath and Cassie felt her relax further. Good. They sat there together, waiting for Harry to come back. It was at least another hour before the portal hole opened and in slid a tired-looking Harry Potter. The girls, who had been dozing, both got up and Ginny ran to him and hugged and kissed him. Cassie followed a little bit behind and, from a short distance smiled and welcomed him back. Harry smiled back at her.  
  
Cassie decided it was time to let them be alone and bade both of them goodnight. She gathered up her comforter which was very warm, and started toward the steps. She heard Ginny ask about her family and she turned back. She hadn't even stopped to think any of Ginny's family would be with Harry. But it made sense. Of course Arthur would be there. Harry smiled into Ginny's eyes. "They're all fine. Your dad, Bill, Fred, and George were there. No one was hurt."  
  
Cassie gave an involuntary gasp and Harry looked at her in puzzlement. Cassie just turned away and ran up the steps, the tears coming closer and closer to the surface as she climbed. She hoped she made it up to her bed before they spilled over. It wouldn't do for her to be seen as so upset, now that Harry was home safely. But her heart was just pounding and it wasn't all from the exertion of the stairs. Cassie had forgotten George was a member of the Order of the Phoenix. He had mentioned it in a letter but it had been so long ago. Cassie felt sick to her stomach that George had been there tonight and she hadn't given him a thought.   
  
She barely made it, throwing aside the curtains and climbing in, quickly pulling the comforter over herself as she curled into a little ball, trying to contain her sobs. She pulled the curtains shut. As exhausted as she was, she didn't think she would be able to sleep tonight. All she could do was think about George, dark wizards, blasts from wands, screams of pain and a haunting feeling of helplessness. She laid in her bed and cried into her covers so she wouldn't wake the other girls. After what seemed like a long time, Cassie heard Ginny quietly enter the room. She wiped her face and opened the curtain a little to say goodnight to her. Ginny noticed Cassie's tear-stained face. "Pia, are you okay?" I'm sorry. I thought George would have been there and I should have told you. But I was selfish, worrying about myself, and not thinking of you."   
  
Cassie suddenly felt very self-conscious. "I guess it's kind of silly for me to be crying when George and I have hardly even dated."  
  
"It isn't silly." Ginny climbed onto Cassie's bed and closed the curtain. "It doesn't change what you feel, just because you haven't known him for a very long time."   
  
Cassie nodded and began to cry again. Frustrated and worried she would wake the others, she fought to hold back the tears, burying her hot, sticky face in her pillow, trying to muffle any sounds. Ginny took her wand out and did a silencing spell on the curtains. She then reached out and took Cassie into her arms. "It's okay, Cassie. Go ahead and cry. You deserve it. I think we all do." With that, Cassie opened up and cried for George, Ginny, Harry, her other friends in the wizarding world, for her family, and for herself. Ginny held her tightly and also wept.


	31. Cassie and the Centaur

I know that a lot of you are tired of depressing chapters! But never fear. These next few chapters are going to be fun and hopefully funny. This one if definitely not depressing and the next one (on Friday) should be downright hilarious. So thanks for sticking through the sad stuff and enjoy this one! No, it's not quite Saturday, but we're getting there quickly. Just endure a little bit longer.   
  
Chapter 31  
Cassie and the Centaur  
  
Cassie was awakened early by Ginny and fought to pull herself out of bed. This was the second morning in a row that she had slept only a few hours and she wondered how long she would be able to keep up with such a small amount of sleep. Nevertheless, Cassie put on a smile, wished Ginny a good morning and dutifully followed her down to the bathroom. It was going to be a very hectic and stressful day for everyone and Cassie needed to be as awake as possible. They hurried quickly through their standard morning routine before heading downstairs to the common room where they were going to hold their usual morning meeting. Cassie and Hermione had spent quite a bit of time talking about today's classes the day before but this morning they were going to finalize all the plans. Her stomach was doing nervous flip-flops but she trusted Hermione and if she said this crazy plan would work then Cassie believed her.   
  
When the two girls stepped into the common room, they found Harry and Hermione sitting on the couch by the fire. Hermione's face was pale and Harry was staring fixedly at the fire. Neither of them were saying anything. Ginny and Cassie looked at each other before hurrying over to the two of them. "What's wrong, Hermione? Is everything okay?" Hermione nodded and wiped at her eyes with a grimace.   
  
"Yeah, I'm all right. It's just that last night . . ." She couldn't continue and she looked pleadingly at Harry who reluctantly turned from the fire.   
  
"Hermione's upset about the battles last night, girls."  
  
"Why?" Ginny looked extremely concerned and sat down by Hermione. "Was someone hurt?" Cassie sat down reluctantly next to Ginny. She wasn't sure she could bear any more bad news. It had been a couple of difficult days and she dreaded hearing more news of death and destruction this early in the morning. But of course, she said nothing as she was sure that if she was sick of it, it was nothing compared to how they were all feeling.   
  
"All the information we had before the battle told us that Voldemort and his Death Eaters were trying to strike once more against people completely unable to defend themselves. They were going after Muggles again, but this time it was specifically the families of the Muggle-born students at Hogwarts."   
  
"What?!!" Ginny and Cassie said together and Hermone smiled faintly at them.   
  
"My parents, apparently, had the honor of being top of the list. Probably in an attempt to draw Harry there."  
  
"What happened, Harry?"   
  
"I wound up spending the entire night apparating from house to house, fighting, and then apparating somewhere else. It was exhausting. Death Eaters were everywhere and I must have fought at least 20 of them. It was just a nightmare, honestly. We were never sure who would be where and, of course, we kept expecting Voldemort would turn up at the next house. He never did, though, which I guess is a good thing."   
  
"Are your parents all right, Hermione?"  
  
"Yes. They're frightened, of course. I guess the fighting got pretty nasty around their house but Harry said they were okay."   
  
"That's terrible, Hermione. Why would they be doing that, targeting students' families like that? It doesn't make sense to me."   
  
"I don't really know. We thought it might be kind of a morale thing. About 40 families were targeted and now everyone's upset and aggravated. Some of the parents want to take their children out of school, but Dumbledore is talking to them and I guess the Order is working on strengthening the wards around their houses and everything. I'm not really sure about all the details." The four of them sat quietly for a few minutes before Cassie got brave enough to ask a question.   
  
"Where's Ron, Hermione? Does he know about this yet?" Harry shook his head.   
  
"Ron will absolutely blow a gasket when he hears about it. He's having a bit of a lie-in this morning because he doesn't have a class until 10. I told Hermione I'd wake him up, but . . ."  
  
"I don't see the point. There's absolutely nothing he can do about anything. He'll just be fuming and throwing a fit and realistically, this meeting is too important to have that distraction. We'll just fill him in later." Hermione wiped her eyes again and pulled a piece of parchment out of her bookbag, spreading out the class schedule for the day and smoothing it. However, Cassie couldn't help but notice that her eyes kept straying to the stairway as if she was hoping that Ron would wander down earlier than expected. Cassie tried really hard to focus on what Hermione was saying but it was difficult because she kept thinking about how she would feel if her family had been the target of Death Eaters and her stomach was in serious knots. "The key to getting through today is careful attention to detail and the timing has to be exact. Do you have a watch, Cassie?"   
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well, make sure you put it on today and keep your eye on it. Everything depends on all of us being where we need to be, when we need to be there."   
  
"What about Ron?"  
  
"Oh, he doesn't have anything particular to do. I'll make sure and talk to him for a minute and fill him in on our plans. That'll be enough."   
  
"I'm sorry to tell you this, Pia, but I'm not going to be able to help you in Charms today."  
  
Cassie blinked and looked at Harry. "Why not?"  
  
"I've got a nasty exam this afternoon at the same time. Sorry."   
  
"Oh. Well, I guess that's okay." She looked at Ginny for confirmation. Ginny nodded.   
  
"We'll be fine. After the fancy stuff he had us do last time, it will probably be pretty easy today, discussion of a new charm or something." Cassie thought that she was glad she still had George's skiving things. They may come in useful in charms.   
  
They finished the plans and started putting everything away so they could head down for breakfast. Hermione just wanted to go over the plan one more time. Cassie had never seen her so agitated. "Make sure you two meet me right outside your Divination classroom immediately when it ends. We need all the time in between classes to get this done."   
  
"Yes, Hermione." Ginny winked at Cassie. "We'll be there. Don't worry." Cassie grinned back at Ginny when Hermione couldn't see. Truthfully, she wasn't looking forward to Divination today and the fact that she would have to sit through it, knowing how critical everything was that had to happen afterward did not help her feel any better about it. It was a very subdued group that entered the Great Hall a few minutes later.   
  
The four of them sat down in their usual seats and Harry pulled over a platter of eggs. Despite the tensions of the morning, he must have been hungry because he piled on an extra-large portion of eggs, and then added sausages, fried potatoes, and four pieces of toast. Hermione ate some eggs, too, although Cassie thought she didn't really look like she was enjoying them. Cassie wasn't particularly hungry but Hermione had warned her to be sure to eat. "It'll be easier. Take my word for it." Cassie dutifully poured some Cornflakes and spooned marmalade on two pieces of toast she took off the ever-present plate that was right by her goblet of pumpkin juice. Bless those house-elves. The entire Great Hall seemed quiet and Cassie studied various students who she knew to be Muggle-born. Apparently, news had traveled fast because they all looked as pale as Hermione and some of the girls were actively sobbing into their hands as they spoke to friends. Colin and Dennis were resolute, and even though Elspeth sat by Colin, wringing her hands in nervous distress, the two brothers just ate their breakfast and Colin patted her arm occasionally. Cassie really wished she could hear what they were saying to each other, but they were too far away. She reminded herself to ask Elspeth later. Dean Thomas only picked at a piece of toast and Cassie felt bad that no one was sitting by him trying to reassure him that things were going to be all right.   
  
Cassie was finishing up her Cornflakes when the now-familiar rush of owl wings caused a small stir among the students at the four tables as students looked up in anticipation of their mail. There seemed to be more than usual today, which Cassie supposed was to be expected. Parents would be writing to reassure their children that family members were all right. Cassie couldn't help herself and she looked up, also. She hoped to hear from George this morning and she had to admit to herself that she was disappointed when the only item that dropped into their little group were Harry's and Hermione's copies of The Daily Prophet. Cassie grimaced to herself and looked down at her toast. A letter from George would have been a welcome change from the somber mood of the morning but now she didn't even have that to enjoy. Ginny caught her eye and smiled sympathetically. Cassie smiled back and shrugged, determined that she wouldn't let it upset her. After all, it was Thursday and she only had two more days until she would see him in person. She could last that long. Couldn't she?   
  
They all finished breakfast a few minutes later and they left the Great Hall together. Harry kissed Ginny and hurried to his own class. Ginny hugged Hermione for a brief minute before they separated. "Are you feeling any better?"   
  
"Not really. But it's all right. Dumbledore will make sure the wards are strengthened around the house." Cassie hugged Hermione, too. She wished she could say something wonderfully insightful that would really make her feel better, but she couldn't think of anything.   
  
"We'll see you in two hours, all right?" They all smiled at each other and Ginny and Cassie watched as Hermione started up the stairs. Cassie tightened her grip on her book bag and started to follow the older girl up the stairs but Ginny grabbed her arm.   
  
"We're not going up there."   
  
"What? I thought we had double Divination this morning."   
  
"We do . . . but it's not up in the tower." Ginny started down a hall Cassie was sure she had never been into before and they continued talking as they walked.   
  
"Um, okay. Why not?" Cassie could have sworn that Ginny was trying not to laugh. "I thought that Trelawney woman hardly ever came out of her tower."   
  
"We're not having Trelawney this morning."   
  
Cassie couldn't help it. She actually smiled. "Okay. Why do I think I'm going to like this class a lot more than I thought I would?"   
  
"Because it's true. You'll love it. We have two Divination teachers and we have one class from each of them during the week. On Tuesdays we have Trelawney and on Thursdays . . . we have Firenze."   
  
"Firenze? That's an unusual name."   
  
"Not for a centaur. They seem to like those sorts of exotic sounding names." Cassie stopped in the middle of the hall.   
  
"A centaur? I think I saw those last June. Aren't they like half horse?"  
  
"Yeah."   
  
"Okay . . ." Cassie tried to remember what centaurs looked like. She had noticed them, of course, during the battle. It was a little hard to ignore creatures that were half horse and half men but for the life of her, she could not remember specifically what they looked like. "Is he scary?"  
  
"No." Ginny laughed. "Actually, most of the girls have crushes on him. He's very nice-looking, if you get into that sort of thing."   
  
"He's a horse! I won't even let my mind go that far."  
  
"He's half a horse. And the human part is very handsome. Well, the horse part is handsome, too, I guess."  
  
"So, Ginny. Does Harry know he has competition for your affections?" Both the girls laughed.   
  
"I didn't say I fancied him. I just said that most of the girls have crushes on him."  
  
"Ah, I see." Cassie thought that it would take a lot to convince her to have a crush on a horse - even if it had the head of a man. A few minutes later, they stood outside a classroom and Cassie checked her watch, noting they had made it with time to spare. Ginny made no effort to enter the classroom, though. "What are we waiting for, Ginny?"   
  
"Well, unlike Trelawney, Firenze has actual Divination ability. I really don't think we want him getting to up close and personal with you. I'd rather not have him announce your, uh, rather unique circumstances to the rest of the class."   
  
Cassie nodded and leaned back against the wall. "So, what do we do? "  
  
"Well, what we'll do is wait until the last moment and then go in and sit down in my usual spot. I always sit in the back which will work out well today."   
  
"Why?"   
  
"Normally, in this class we talk about the effect that the movements of stars and planets have on world events. He really is not one to spend a lot of time talking about our individual futures. I really don't think he cares about them. He wants us to see the big picture, so to speak."   
  
"Okay. That makes it easier for us, then. So I don't understand why we are out here in the hall."   
  
"Unfortunately, several of the students have been pestering him to help them develop their own individual horoscopes - life plans so to speak. Trelawney has us do it in fourth year, but I think most students just wind up faking it. I know I did. Not that this made me unhappy, mind you, but some of the students wished that they could have a real Seer, so to speak, help them make an accurate one."   
  
"Oh." Cassie could see where this was going and she didn't like it.  
  
"He's been deferring it for months but I think as a gift for us, because of the Christmas hols and all, he is doing it for each of us. It's a small class and he's about half done. If he sees you in there, he may take it in his mind to do yours."   
  
"Well, I've never believed in astrology, but I don't care if he tells me my horoscope. I read it every once in a while in the newspaper just for laughs."   
  
"No, you really don't want him to do one of these. It's a lot more complicated than a regular Muggle horoscope. Hermione has showed me a few of those, and believe me . . . this is nothing like it."   
  
"Okay. I'll take your word for it." The bell rang and before it had really stopped, both girls slipped into the still-open door and into the semi-darkened classroom. Ginny stopped suddenly, glancing at the back where there was no row of desks as Cassie had expected, but just a collection of what looked like tree-stumps. She blinked in surprise. What seemed to upset Ginny, though, was the fact that every stump seemed to be occupied by students either sitting on the stump or sitting in front of it, using it as a back rest. The floor felt springy under her feet and Cassie shook her head to clear it. She would have sworn they were outside if the air weren't so warm. She knew it would be a lot colder if they actually had stepped outside the castle.   
  
"Great. Come on. We'll have to sit up front after all." They fortunately managed to find two stumps next to each other and sat down. Cassie looked around, studying the extremely unusual classroom and also hoping to see this handsome centaur. There was no sign of him and Cassie was pretty sure she would have a hard time overlooking him. A second later, a door in the front wall opened and a creature walked through that absolutely made her catch her breath in surprise. He really was, if you could use that word, quite handsome. His horse half was what she was pretty sure was a palomino and the rest of his coloring was equally stunning. His hair was pale gold and his eyes, even in the half-dusky light of the room, were bright blue. He walked sedately into the middle of the room. Cassie expected him to smile or to at least welcome the students, but he did neither. He simply started in on the lecture, convinced that everyone would hang on his every word. And truthfully, he was right. No one made a sound as he lectured. Cassie could not take her eyes off of him. It was incredible to see this creature, whom she had been told all her life did not exist, stand in front of her delivering a lecture on the stars and the planets.   
  
Most of what Firenze said made no sense to Cassie although she sincerely tried to listen. Ginny was taking notes at a frantic pace and Cassie tried to at least write down a few things so that it didn't look suspicious. However, she found it extremely difficult to write with the quill and parchment on her lap and she could not figure out where to keep her small ink bottle where it would be easy to continually dip her quill. No one else seemed to be struggling, but she was making more of a spectacle of herself by trying not to be a spectacle, so she quickly gave up the attempt and instead just listened.   
  
The first hour of the class passed quickly and she breathed a sigh of relief. There was no reason to be nervous. Everything was great. No wonder Hermione had marked this class a yellow. She was warm, relaxed, comfortable, and enjoying the entire experience. Ten minutes later, though, everything changed.   
  
"Class, I believe we are ready to continue what we started last week, if you wish." There was a general murmur of ascent and Cassie felt her stomach give a nervous lurch.   
  
"Fine. Let us begin where we ended." He pointed a rather delicate-looking hand at a student, who hurried to the front of the class and sat down on a rather tall stump next to the professor. She was a Ravenclaw girl and she smiled self-consciously as she looked out at the rest of the students. "Miss Lightner, just relax. All of this is being recorded for you so you don't need to worry. Can you bring the sky to the proper alignment as it was on your birth date, which I believe was August 11, 1981. Is that correct?" The student nodded but no one else said anything. Obviously, his figuring out the birth date was a part of the process.   
  
"Oh, yes, Professor. I can." She produced her wand, pointed it at the ceiling and the room darkened and the ceiling above them lit up with a perfect recreation of the night sky. Even Cassie recognized a few of the constellations as this was a summer sky and Harry had taught her well. Firenze looked at Miss Lightner for a few moments as he paced slowly back and forth for a moment or two. She stirred on her stump with anticipation. Finally, he began to speak.   
  
"Yes, a very interesting birth date. As you well know, your astrological sign is Leo, the lion, and your ruling planet is the Sun. All of that is very common knowledge that any first-year would know. What is not as well known is that at the time of your birth, Saturn and Venus were in line with your ruling planet. People born on this day are of a very superior intellect. However, because of the characteristics of those born with Venus in their first house, you are not only of superior intellect, you are also very impatient with those whose intellectual capabilities are not to your level."   
  
A girl who had been sitting next to the brown-haired Miss Lightner grinned. "Well, that's true." The whole class burst out laughing and the subject of the analysis blushed. Firenze smiled for the first time and, once the class had settled down, continued.  
  
"I would think you come from a pure blood, of at least six to eight generations, wizarding family. Furthermore, you have probably experienced a stable household but been witness to a more unstable, in terms of changing dynamics and allegiances, extended family. You tend to be outwardly friendly but a very deep thinker who desires time to be alone and brood about complicated and dark thoughts. Indeed, I would say your magical powers are very strong in the area of charms, in which witches typically tend to have a more natural strength I would also think you do very well at Divination, and I have personally seen that. However, you are not as strong in areas such as potions or transfiguration as the fundamentals of those areas of magical ability are directly opposite the strengths of people, particularly women, born on your birthday.  
  
Miss Lightner sat there with her mouth open and face flushed from a combination of embarrassment and excitement. She had nodded and cringed at various times during the analysis and was now looking at Firenze in wonderment. He continued into areas that Cassie could not even hope to understand and pointed out on the ceiling the various movements of the planets and stars that would affect the girls' life. It was actually very interesting and when he was done, the class clapped respectfully as she returned to her seat. The room lightened and the night sky disappeared. Firenze bowed his head in appreciation of the student's pleased applause and pointed at another student.   
  
His eyes met Cassie's for a brief second and his eyebrows drew close together in vague surprise. Cassie immediately dropped her gaze from his and stared at her hands, twisting them in her lap. He had noticed her. She just prayed that he hadn't immediately figured out she was a Muggle. Her stomach was now doing flip-flops and she realized that she was in serious trouble. The lights dimmed again as the Slytherin boy, a Mr. Derek, confirmed that his birthday was indeed 5 January 1981 and aligned the night sky to now duplicate how it had been on that night, almost 17 years before. Firenze started the analysis and Cassie quietly pulled her bookbag close to her and opened the top.   
  
"Your astrological sign is Capricorn, the goat, and your ruling planet is Saturn. Again, this is common knowledge. What is interesting is that the alignment of planets at the time of your birth produced a complex and secretive individual. As with most people whose ruling planet are Saturn, your desire to lead, in fact rule, is very strong. Because of this, you appear to be open and positive in your disposition. However, the opposite is the case. Because the planet Pluto was in the first house and Uranus in the second house at the time of your birth, you are secretive, brooding and pessimistic. It is your nature and disposition to hide things." Cassie slowly pulled a small box out of the pocket of her bag and held it in her hand. She opened the container and caught Ginny's eye. Ginny just nodded and Cassie looked down. She smiled, despite her fear. There was a small folded pile of tissue and she moved it aside to pull out the small pink candy.   
  
Firenze continued, "You are intelligent, but in a more calculating than contemplative way. You are successful through a combination of careful analysis and sheer perseverance. You carefully evaluate the pros and cons of every action, trying to anticipate the reaction. I would assume this has been both beneficial and detrimental for you, depending upon the situation. In terms of your magical abilities, I would think you do very well in potions and arithmancy. You are weaker in charms and transfiguration." Cassie felt bad interrupting this but didn't want to give him a chance to get suspicious. She bit the end of the candy off, chewed and swallowed. She picked the tissues up and slid the box back into her bag. At first, nothing happened and Cassie had a momentary fear, or was it relief, that it wasn't going to work for her. But then, the first drop of blood fell onto her hand and she took a deep breath. A second later, there was another and before she could have even said Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, there was a veritable flood. She was immensely grateful for the twins' foresight of the tissue and pressed it up against the scarlet tide. She stood up and Ginny hastily explained to a rather bemused looking professor that her cousin would have to leave. Cassie didn't stay around to wait for permission, she just grabbed her bag and tore out into the corridor. She tried not to panic. She was bleeding a lot, but it had to look scary so that teachers would actually let you out of class and not expect you back five minutes later. She had seen a toilet close by and she pushed open the door, blinking at the sudden brightness of the room after the dim "forest" she had come from only a minute before.   
  
She dug the box back out of her bag and opened it. This was rather more difficult than she had expected. She was trying very hard not to get blood all over her robes and herself but she couldn't hold the tissue with one hand and hope to open the bag, get the box, and retrieve the necessary antidote with the other. The tissues were soaked anyway by the time she realized she was going to have to set them down, so she did and stared with some chagrin at the blood that instantly soaked the front of her black robes. She grabbed the candy and stuffed it in her mouth, biting hard and swallowing, trying to ignore the coppery taste of blood that had come in with it.   
  
Fortunately, the nosebleed stopped immediately and she remained kneeling on the floor for a long moment as she considered what to do next. If she were really a witch, she could have done a simple cleaning charm and things would have been as good as new. But, of course, she wasn't, she couldn't, and there was no changing that fact. She wanted desperately to return to the relative safety of Gryffindor tower and change robes and maybe even take a quick shower, but a glance at her watch confirmed what she suspected. There were only 20 minutes before Divination ended and she would need to meet Hermione there. If she didn't, things could be totally screwed up. So, she stood and braved the mirrors over the sink. She looked as bad as she feared. Her face was pale but other than that, there was blood everywhere, even in her hair. Her white blouse was stained red at the collar and she was sure that if the robes weren't black they would be absolutely horrific looking.   
  
As she was contemplating her options, the door opened and she turned in relief, expecting that Ginny would have wanted to come check on her. But it wasn't Ginny or even Hermione who stood in shock at the bedraggled girl in front of the sink. It was the Hufflepuff seeker, Zyz . . . Cassie remembered.   
  
"Oh, Merlin! What happened to you?"   
  
"Uh, would you believe an accident with a bludger?" The girl smiled at Cassie's obvious attempt at humor.   
  
"No, I wouldn't. Seriously, you look like someone punched you in the nose."   
  
"It was one of George and Fred Weasley's Skiving Snackboxes. Have you ever heard of them?"   
  
"The twins or the boxes?" She smiled. "Yeah, I remember the twins - bloody brilliant at pranks I must say and darn good Quidditch players, too - but I don't think I've ever heard of the boxes. What exactly do they do? Because truthfully, you're not a very good advertisement."   
  
"You're wrong. I'm a brilliant advertisement for a brilliant product." Cassie told the girl about the Snackboxes as she calmly washed most of the blood off of herself, trying to restore at least some sense of cleanliness to her face and hands.   
  
"Those sound great. I think I'd prefer the fainting ones to the nosebleed, though. Yuck!" She studied Cassie with a bemused expression. "What don't you clean yourself up using Scourgify?"  
  
"Oh . . . well, I forgot my wand in the class. I rushed out so quickly. I'm hoping Ginny brings it out, but in the meantime, I just have to wait here. I don't dare leave in case she didn't see it fall on the ground when I stood up and ran."  
  
"Ah. Do you want me to do it?"  
  
"Could you? That would be great. I'm afraid a first year might faint if one happened to see me in the hall."   
  
"Yeah. That's a distinct possibility." And the girl waved her wand and Cassie felt immediately a lot cleaner.   
  
"Thanks! I really appreciate it." Cassie glanced at her watch and realized that she better go back to the classroom door and wait for Ginny and Hermione to meet her. "I better run. Thanks again. I'll see you around."   
  
"Maybe you could bring me an order form for those Snackboxes. I'd love to have some for next week. Do you have any idea of the shipping time?"   
  
"Uh, sure. I think just a couple days by owl. At least the wands got here pretty quickly." Cassie opened the door and stepped back out into the hall, unsure of whether to wait right outside the classroom or just in the general vicinity. She didn't want to take a chance on Firenze seeing her there and stepping out to visit. But she also needed to make sure and find Hermione. She settled on waiting partly concealed behind a suit of armor just a few feet down the hall from the classroom door. Hermione came early, glanced at her own watch, and leaned against the wall, obviously impatient for the girls to emerge. Cassie stepped out from behind the armor which startled Hermione. She told her the entire story and Hermione looked her over critically.   
  
"She did a really good job, which I am grateful for."   
  
"Why? I mean, what difference does it make to you?"   
  
"We're close to the same size, but I think we'll still need to . . ." She stopped talking right then because Ginny came barreling out of the classroom.   
  
"Oh, Pia. You're here. I was worried sick. That was terrible to watch. Did it stop okay?"  
  
"Yeah, no problem. Fortunately, that Hufflepuff seeker, Zyz I think is her name, came in and helped me get cleaned up. Plus, I think she's going to order some of the Snackboxes. She seemed pretty impressed."   
  
"Great. They'll pay you a commission like they did for Ron."   
  
"Well, come on, Pia. We better get going if we want to get this done on time." The three girls walked down the hallway to a different toilet, one that Cassie really did not want to enter. It was one that she had been warned against entering and she had had every intention of heeding the advice. Apparently, there was a very unpleasant ghost in this toilet and everyone else in the school avoided it like they would the plague. But no . . . here she was, walking into it just like it was no big deal. "Okay, Pia. I was going to say that we are going to have to wear each other's robes. We're enough different in size that I think it would be obvious. Let's change now. You take that stall and I'll take this one." Cassie grimaced and opened the stall door Hermione pointed her to. She looked in, cautiously, afraid she might see a ghost. But the stall was miraculously empty and she stepped inside and locked the door behind her.


	32. Who Are You Now?

Author's Note: In this chapter, I refer to the girls by their real names -- not the names of who everyone else thinks they are. Hope it is clear.   
  
Chapter 32  
Who Are You Now?  
  
Cassie stood for a long moment without doing anything. Then she carefully undid the fastenings on her robe and hung it on the hook. Then she unbuttoned her blouse and unfastened her bra, feeling goosebumps break out all over. It was cold in here. "Here, Cassie. I cleaned them for you, okay?"   
  
"Okay. Thanks." Cassie reached down and took the bundle of clothes that Hermione passed under the stall divider. She handed her clothes to Hermione and then heard the softly murmured cleaning spell. She hadn't even thought about changing clothes but it made sense, she realized. She fussed for a few seconds trying to do the unfamiliar bra fastening and then tried to pull the bra up but realized instantly that it wasn't going to work. "Um, Hermione? We have a problem. I can't wear your bra. I'm sorry."   
  
She heard Ginny start giggling and despite that fact that she was alone in the stall, Cassie felt her face flame bright red. She was not what she would call overly well-endowed, at least compared to most of her friends, but Hermione was obviously smaller even than she was. She heard Hermione sigh a second later.  
  
"Yeah. I see what you mean. Uh, well, I can do your stuff up with no problem. So I'll finish and then we'll drink the potion and then everything should fit."   
  
"Good idea." Cassie slowly put Hermione's robe on and fastened it up, leaving her blouse off. The robe was too long for her and she carefully picked it up so she wouldn't step on it as she exited the stall. She went over and stood by Ginny who still had a silly expression on her face. Hermione joined them both a minute later and her cheeks were still slightly pink. "Do we really have to do this, Hermione? Don't you think you'll get in trouble for not being in Transfiguration?"  
  
"I will be in Transfiguration."  
  
"Well, yeah . . . but the Professor won't know it."  
  
"Harry is just going to tell her I'm still really upset about this morning, which actually works out quite conveniently. She won't mind. I'm one of her best students, after all. And to answer your other question, yes, we do have to do this. Unless you want to go in there and do the double transfiguration she said you would have to do."   
  
"No. I mean, obviously I can't do that . . . but can't one of you just do it from your seats or something? This just seems a little drastic."   
  
"It is drastic, but totally necessary. She would notice the spells coming from the back of the room where we always sit. We don't have time to argue about this. Just believe me when I say this is the best way. Transfigurations are too tricky. I don't like it any more than you do." Hermione reached into her book bag and pulled out two large containers. Ginny looked with undisguised curiosity at the liquid inside as Hermione removed both lids.   
  
"So . . . you got this from Dumbledore, right? We're not all going to get in trouble?"  
  
"Yeah. He had some in stock somewhere in his office. He said it comes in handy every once in a while. Anyway, he was happy to give it to us. He didn't even ask when exactly I'd be doing it. I suppose he probably didn't want to know."   
  
Cassie leaned over and looked into the two containers as well. Hermione had told her a little bit about this yesterday and then they had discussed it further this morning, but she had to admit she was unsure it would actually work. Both the other girls seemed confident, though. Hermione turned to Cassie. "Give me the three hairs, please." Cassie pulled three hairs out of her head and watched with morbid fascination as Hermione added them to the first beaker. The stuff in there had been a rather disgusting green color but when the hairs were added, it started smoking and bubbling and turned to a muddy brown. And the smell . . . well. Cassie didn't even want to think about it. A little bit like cooked cabbage. Yuck. Hermione screwed the lid back onto the first container and then pulled out some of her hairs and added them to the second one. She knew this was the one she was going to have to drink and she felt definitely queasy as she watched the color change happen again.   
  
Hermione pulled a set of six small beakers out of her bookbag and began pouring the nasty gloppy stuff into them - three from the set with Cassie's hair and three from the set with Hermione's hair. There still seemed to be a lot left in the original containers, more than Cassie really wanted to think about drinking. The smell was really starting to get to her now.   
  
"Here. Now like I told you, you need to drink one of these every hour. You'll have to be prompt because from what Harry and Ron said the timing is exact. Don't drink it in front of anyone. Just go to the toilet or something. And don't be late because once you start changing back, it's harder to go back to being me. This first time is pretty nasty anyway although I think the maintenance doses are supposed to be easier." The three beakers were pressed into her hand and Cassie automatically put them into her bookbag.   
  
"Why don't I feel better about this?" Cassie eyed the steaming stinking container with definite distaste.   
  
"It's okay to be nervous. But look, we've got to get this done or I'm going to be late for class. I'm sure you don't want detention with McGonagal. Just swallow it quickly. If you hold your nose, it might make it easier."   
  
"Can I just say one thing, Hermione?"  
  
"I guess so."  
  
"This just reinforces all the nasty stereotypes I ever heard about witches before I came here. You know, 'Boil, bubble, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble . . .' and all that!"  
  
"Very funny!" Hermione scowled, but Cassie could tell that she was smiling behind her stern expression. Ginny giggled again and Cassie smiled to hide her nervousness.   
  
Holding her nose was a good theory. It didn't work. Cassie's stomach immediately rebelled as the foul liquid hit it and Cassie was grateful that Hermione had insisted she eat breakfast. She would have hated to have this on an empty stomach. As it was she could feel the need to vomit shoot through her system and she instinctively ran toward the toilet stall. Cassie knelt over the toilet for a couple of minutes and fleetingly wondered why she was putting herself through this. She finally felt well enough to stand up and was pleased that she hadn't really thrown up -- Hermione had told her that if she threw it up, she would have to take another dose. As it was, she wasn't sure she was going to be able to force herself to choke down the contents of those three beakers that looked to hold about six gallons of the goop - each.  
  
She stood after a minute and felt a strange tingling in her fingers and face. She exited the stall again and walked over to the mirror. It was a horrible feeling, like her insides were being rearranged and the tingling spread all over her body but she watched with some morbid interest as her features rearranged themselves into the familiar face of the Head Girl. Hermione was looking out of the mirror at her. Cassie reached up and touched her face and it was Hermione's hand that moved. "Aaah. This is strange." She gasped again when she turned around and saw herself standing next to Ginny. "Ooh. This is the stuff nightmares are made of. It's like I'm dead, watching myself."   
  
"You'll be all right, Hermione." Ginny said, trying to comfort her a little bit.   
  
Cassie suddenly realized Ginny was talking to her. "Oh, now I have to answer to your name, Hermione. This is just getting so confusing . . . I'm going to need a playbill just to remember who I'm supposed to be. First I'm Cassie . . . then Pia . . . now Hermione. Just promise me I won't have to be Harry or Ron anytime soon! I'm not sure I could handle that!"   
  
Hermione and Ginny both laughed although Hermione kept her eyes on her face and Cassie had a hard time tearing her eyes away from herself, watching the play of expressions on her own face. "This is really bizarre."  
  
Hermione nodded emphatically and then turned beet red. "Does the bra fit better now?"  
  
"Oh!" Cassie had completely forgotten that under her robes she was basically undressed. "I haven't tried. Sorry." She ran back into the stall and unfastened the robe. The bra went on easily now and she buttoned the blouse over it.   
  
"I never really thought of myself as exceptionally small . . . but I guess maybe I am." Cassie could hear a bit of hurt and uncertainty in Hermione's voice. She expected to hear Ginny offering some comforting words but instead heard a very teasing voice that she didn't recognize.  
  
"If you don't like it . . . there's a spell you can use to fix them."   
  
"There's nothing wrong with . . . them, Myrtle. Go away!"   
  
"Why should I? It's my bathroom!" Cassie realized suddenly that the voice must belong to the ghost that Hermione had warned her about. She thought about hiding in the bathroom until it left, but that idea was stupid as a ghostly head suddenly poked through the wall of her stall and looked her over. The girl was unattractive, pimply-faced, mousy, and transparent! Cassie let out a shriek and ripped the door open to run over to where Hermione and Ginny were standing. The ghost followed her.  
  
"I must say, dearie, you definitely got the worse side of the bargain - if she looks like you did." Hermione flushed bright red again and the ghost laughed at her discomfiture.   
  
"Go away, Myrtle! I mean it. You don't want me to tell Harry you're being a prat, do you?" Myrtle scowled but she zoomed into one of the stalls and a second later there was a loud splash. Both Hermione and Ginny giggled. "She has a bit of a crush on Harry. It's the only threat that really works on her." Cassie didn't really want to contemplate the intricacies of a ghost having a crush on a living breathing boy - nor did she really want to know how Myrtle even knew Harry, being that this was a girls' toilet. But she didn't ask. Things were too weird as it was.   
  
Despite Hermione's earlier words about needing to hurry to class, she seemed reluctant to leave the earlier subject although it was making Cassie terribly uncomfortable. "Do you think I should try a spell . . . I mean, maybe it would really help. Do you think I'm . . . too flat?"   
  
"You're not now!" Ginny exclaimed, making quite a show of looking her over before she burst into laughter. Cassie blushed bright red and Hermione covered her face with her hands before flashing Ginny a disgusted look.   
  
"You're not helping, Ginny! What do you think, Cassie? Do you think I need to give Mother Nature a hand, so to speak?" Cassie didn't dare look down at the area Hermione was staring at. It was strange thinking that looking down at her (own) chest would be staring at some other girl's cleavage, but . . ."  
  
"Uh. No. I think they're fine. I'm sure Ron likes them and that's the important part." Hermione squeaked and looked up into Cassie's face immediately and Cassie found herself staring into her (own) blue eyes - wide with something akin to panic.  
  
"What?" her own voice spit out. Ginny was laughing so hard now that she was bent over the sink, holding on to it like she would collapse if she didn't hang on to something solid.  
  
"I mean . . . I'm sure he likes looking at them!"   
  
"What?!!" Her own face was turning bright red across the space between them and Cassie was sure that she was about to burst into flames in a second herself, she was so embarrassed at what a mess she was making of this conversation.   
  
"I mean . . . I'm sure he thinks they're a nice size! Oh, never mind! Do we have to talk about this now?"   
  
Ginny had now completely abandoned the idea of remaining upright and sitting on the floor, practically hysterical, holding her stomach to stop the ache.   
  
"I don't think Ron cares . . . I mean . . . I guess all guys care. I know they do. Do you think he looks at them . . . What am I saying? Of course he looks at them . . . when he thinks I won't notice . . . Maybe he thinks they're too small . . . ." Hermione was muttering as she stared at herself before her voice trailed off. They both stood there, facing at each other in abject humiliation.   
  
Ginny wiped away the tears of amusement from her eyes and dragged herself upright, using the wall for support. "Merlin! You two should see each other! This is the funniest thing I've ever heard. I wish I could tell Harry about it." Both Cassie and Hermione whirled on the red-head, relieved to find some target for their overheated emotions. "I'm kidding. . . I'm kidding. I won't tell." She gasped, trying to catch her breath and giggling a few more times as she tried to regain her composure. "Hermione . . . you aren't small. You're just thin and more athletic in build. Cassie isn't throwing a fit that you're taller than she is and complaining that she's too short. So stop worrying about it. And as for Ron . . . you're the only girlfriend he's ever had. I'm sure he is perfectly satisfied with you exactly the way you are. And if he's not . . . you can tell him to sod off."   
  
"Ginny!" both girls said simultaneously but she just smiled in response.   
  
"Come on, Pia! We'd better get to class. Or we really will be late. We've only got five more minutes." Both Hermione and Cassie turned to follow her. Ginny smiled at Cassie. "Not you, Hermione. Remember? You're going to go up to the common room and read. And Pia is going to come with me to Transfiguration class. Okay?" Hermione followed Ginny out of the bathroom only to run back in a second later.   
  
"We've got to change bookbags. I can't believe I forgot! And we've got to swap the potion beakers, too!" There was a flurry of activity as they swapped the beakers to the other bags and then Hermione reached into her bag and pulled out her wand before Cassie swung it up onto her shoulder.   
  
"Wait! Don't you need my wand?"  
  
"No. No one will notice. I wouldn't dare try transfigurations with your wand. They look enough alike. It shouldn't be a problem." She grabbed Cassie's bag and handed her her wand. Cassie stood there as they left, and realized only a minute later that Hermione was taking her skiving snackboxes with her. Not that she had any intention of using them again - ever, but they were sort of a security blanket. She was very nervous, extremely nervous about this. She had wanted to ask Hermione a million questions but there hadn't been time. As she stood there for a second, she realized that she really needed to use the toilet - obviously her nerves were getting to her bladder. She set down Hermione's bag and walked toward the stall where she had changed clothes. She saw the puddles on the floor and remembered that the ghost had splashed into the toilet and changed her mind immediately. She could make it to Gryffindor tower before she got desperate if she hurried. She grabbed the bag again, grunting at its weight as she slipped it over her shoulder and exited the bathroom.   
  
Fortunately, Cassie didn't have any problem finding her way back to Gryffindor Tower. She thought it might look more than a little suspicious if the Head Girl could not find her way around the school in her seventh year. The Fat Lady didn't even blink when she gave the password and Cassie gratefully climbed in through the portrait hole, looking around the nearly empty common room. She saw two first-year boys whose faces were a mixture of nervousness and curiosity. For a fleeting moment, she wondered if they had skived off their class and were now afraid she would reprimand them. Then the thought occurred to her that perhaps they knew she was the one doing the skiving. She dismissed the idea, though. It would be impossible to remember anyone else's schedule in this school. It made no logical sense in her opinion and she figured it was all someone could do to remember their own.   
  
She made her way carefully through the room and a few people nodded or said hello. She greeted them back, making sure to not address anyone by name. Even though she felt fairly confident for a couple of them, she was afraid that if she somehow made a mistake it would be noted and remembered. And her goal for the next little while was to remain completely inconspicuous. She was very tempted to go up and lay down on her bed but knew that she would actually have to lay on Hermione's bed and she did not think she would be able to relax. Plus, there was the fact that she had to remain awake and aware so that in . . . 45 minutes she could take the next dose of that disgusting potion. If she fell asleep, it could be a major disaster. So, reading was probably the best option. Just like Hermione had suggested. Dang it. She briefly thought of going to the toilet as she had been so desperate only a few minutes ago. But that was obviously just nerves because she felt no need now.   
  
She made her way to the couch where their group usually sat in front of the fire. It was not, unfortunately, completely unoccupied although there was room for her. At one end was a girl Cassie recognized as a fifth-year even though she could not think of her name for the life of her. The girl smiled. "Hi, Hermione." Cassie said hello back in what she hoped was a Hermione-like way and then settled down on the empty end of the couch. She opened Hermione's book bag and pulled out the book she had promised would be there available for her reading enjoyment. She instantly realized why the bag was so heavy. This one book alone had to weigh 10 kilograms. She studied the cover and remembered that Hermione had referred to this book multiple times during the limited time she had known the girl. It must be her favorite and Cassie wondered vaguely if she had the thing memorized. But if she had it memorized, was it realistic that she would be reading it again? Well. There was no hope for it. She would have to read it and look interested. Great. It promised to be a real snoozer. She hoped she didn't fall asleep down here. That would be even more disastrous than falling asleep upstairs.   
  
She yawned lazily and turned to the first page of Hogwarts, a History. She was pleasantly surprised to find that actually it was pretty interesting. She learned something new practically every sentence and wondered vaguely why Ron and Harry had never read it. There was a lot of good stuff in it.   
  
She was still reading ten minutes later when the portrait hole opened and Ron slid through, dragging his bookbag behind him. He looked around frantically and then, spying Hermione, he hurried over to Cassie. Cassie watched him approach and wondered why he was there and not in class. She wondered if he was aware that she was really Cassie, rather than Hermione, but that question was answered moments later as he sat down very close beside her. He wasn't.   
  
"I'm so sorry, Hermione. I'm so, so sorry. Are you okay?"   
  
"I'm okay, Ron. I'm just fine." He cupped her cheek in his hand and bent in for a quick kiss. Cassie turned her face aside at the last moment and his lips actually met her cheek. He pulled back casually though and didn't comment. Maybe he thought it was an accident. "Shouldn't you be in class, Ron?" This was difficult. Ron and Hermione had a very distinct way of talking to each other - Hermione seemed to be in charge, and yet . . . not. Cassie really had no idea how she was going to fake this. It would be easier to just tell him the truth, but with the fifth-year girl sitting so close to the two of them, there was no way she could do it right now.   
  
"I'm not going to sit in bloody Transfiguration class when you are here upset and worried about your parents. I saw Colin and he told me about last night. Then I went to class and I saw Harry, Ginny, and Pia there, but my Hermione was missing. That's when I knew you were probably upset and here in Gryffindor feeling angry with me. So, I came directly here. I'm so sorry! Why didn't you have Harry wake me up this morning?" Cassie tried desperately to remember what Hermione had said this morning.   
  
"Um. Well, there was nothing you could do. And we had important things to discuss . . . about Pia, you know. Her class schedule?" Cassie was trying to hint to Ron that he didn't know what was going on today, but he didn't pick up on the hint.   
  
"Well, I know. But you must have been worried sick. I'm sorry I wasn't there with you when you found out. Are you sure you're okay? I mean, your parents are all right and everything, right?"  
  
"Yes, Ron, they are. Thanks." Cassie patted him on the knee, smiled at him, and hoped that it would be enough like Hermione's look that he wouldn't notice. "You really should be in class. It's an important day today."   
  
"No it isn't. It's just review."   
  
"Pia is supposed to be doing that double transfiguration today, though. Don't you want to watch her?" Cassie hoped that this little conversation would jog Ron's memory - if Pia was there trying to do a double transfiguration, he would know that there was something going on. But, he was persistent, which she figured was probably saying something about how much he really did like Hermione. It was obvious he really was concerned about her.   
  
"No. I don't want to leave you alone. I missed you this morning. I'm so used to having breakfast with you and everything . . . . And Pia's transfigurations in class have nothing to do with me."  
  
"You never know." Cassie tried to say this quite firmly but he didn't listen.   
  
"I know this." Ron put his hand firmly on her knee and turned her chin toward him. Cassie tried to look down at her book, hoping he would get the idea but he was persistent and his mouth got closer and closer to hers, almost like slow motion.   
  
"Ron . . . look." Cassie pulled her face out of his grip and looked steadily down at her book. "I really just want to be alone right now, okay? I need to think. And I think I'm going to write a letter home . . . to my parents. You know, I want to tell them I love them and everything. I can't help but feel responsible for what happened." She tried to inject an appropriate amount of sad distress into her voice.  
  
Ron scowled briefly. "I won't bother you if you want to write to them. I'll just . . . keep you company, like this." He pushed her hair away from her ear and bent toward her, nibbling a little on her earlobe. Cassie tried not to laugh. It tickled, plus the entire situation was really out of control.   
  
"Um . . . if you keep me company like that, I'll never get my letter written." Cassie tried to go back to reading, hoping Ron would get the message. He didn't. Ron kept kissing her on her neck and cheek and placed his hand on her knee again. Cassie was dying inside, unsure of how to put a stop to this in a way that would convince everyone in the common room that she was actually Hermione. Sure, she may look like Hermione and Ron may be thinking he was kissing Hermione, but he wasn't. He was kissing her and Cassie felt very uncomfortable that someone else's boyfriend was attempting to snog her. She glanced over at the fifth-year girl at the other end of the couch and noticed she was doing her best to watch Ron's cuddling without looking like she was watching but Cassie had noticed that she hadn't turned a single page since Ron had sat down. A quick scan of the rest of the room showed that everyone else was doing the same thing.   
  
Ron was getting a little more aggressive as he sensed her passivity and his hand curled around the back of her neck to pull her closer to him. She put her hands firmly on his chest and looked at her watch. Twenty more minutes before she had to take that potion. "Ron! We have an audience." That didn't deter him.   
  
"So. They've seen us kissing before. We're not doing anything obscene or anything."   
  
"But . . . I'm the Head Girl. I'm supposed to set an example."   
  
Ron looked around at the few students sitting around the room. "You can set an example of what it's like to snog with a boyfriend or girlfriend in a very tasteful manner."   
  
"Ron!" Cassie couldn't help but laugh softly. She had never known Ron like this and he was actually pretty fun to be around. Not that she was interested. . . but she understood Hermione's attraction to him a little more.   
  
"Shall I ask if anyone objects?" He whispered into her ear. "We can take a poll to find out if they want me to kiss you, or hug you, or . . . or just hold you." His hand was unbuttoning the fastenings on her robe and she was pushing it away, only to have it return. She didn't really want to think about what he was doing. She had the quick and probably totally inappropriate thought that he didn't seem to be complaining about the way Hermione filled out her blouse.  
  
Cassie blushed, though. This would never do. "No. No polls. I don't think I should be doing this in public. We need to stop."   
  
"We could go somewhere else. If you wanted. Maybe our favorite spot is available right now." This was getting really awkward. She definitely did not want to go anywhere with him where he could be even more insistent with his kissing and touching. Fifteen minutes now . . . and that wasn't counting time to get to the toilet. She had to put an end to this.   
  
Cassie leaned into Ron and whispered as softly as she could. "Ron, let's go up to your room where we can be alone. We can . . . talk more up there." Ron sat up suddenly and practically fell off of the couch. His eyes bugged out, he turned crimson and asked her what she had just said in a voice a little more loud than Cassie wanted. She blushed but persevered. "I said, let's go upstairs where we can have a little more privacy."  
  
"I . . . uh, yeah. Well, okay. Yeah, if you're sure. Are you sure you want to? Now?"  
  
"Yes. Now is the best time. Come on." Cassie stood up and pulled at Ron to stand up and follow her. He still was staring at her bug-eyed but he stood up, not protesting too much. Now everyone in the common room was looking at the two of them and pretending not to look. She was positive that visiting the boys' room alone like this was definitely forbidden. But she wasn't really planning on going up there. She just needed to get him onto the stairs. She could tell him there. She started walking toward the stairs with a firm step. Ron grabbed her bookbag and followed her, grabbing her hand as they approached them.   
  
"Hermione, are you sure you really want to go up - in the middle of the day? What if we, well . . . you know, uh, get caught?"  
  
"You're the one who said we need to show the other students how to . . . snog in a tasteful fashion. I am sure the others would rather us keep our affectionate displays away from them. Some of them, after all, are only first years." Cassie held her head up high and stepped onto the stairs, wondering if she would die of embarrassment before she could do this. But she had only ten more minutes and she had to do this right now. She glanced back over Ron's shoulder and noticed every face in the room looking at the two of them. "Come on, Ron. It was your idea." Cassie had a sick feeling. She had to do this quickly so that Hermione's reputation would not be damaged. Ron had a flushed, nervous, bewildered expression. She tightened her grip on his hand (which she vaguely noted was sweating now) and led him quickly up the winding staircase until they were out of sight and sound of the common room. She then stopped, turned, and looked at Ron, but was too embarrassed to actually look up into his face. Instead, she stared firmly at his shoulder.   
  
"Ron, I'm not Hermione. I'm Pia. We used some potion this morning. Poly . . . andry or something." Ron went absolutely still and Cassie could have sworn he stopped breathing.   
  
She could see the hot color rushing up his neck as he absorbed what she said. "Bloody hell!" he practically screamed. Cassie tried to shush him but he just looked at her again in dismay and screamed "Bloody hell!" again. Cassie looked at his face now and wondered if the top of his head was going to come off. He looked at her one more time and then ran down the stairs, fortunately dropping her bookbag before he ran through and out of the common room. Cassie could hear several students laughing. She leaned against the wall and waited for her heart to stop beating fast and then walked, as calmly as possible, back down into the common room. Everyone looked up at her as she entered. She held her head up firmly, trying to act like she thought Hermione would. The fifth-year girl buried her face in her book again, but Cassie noticed that the book was upside down. Somehow, she doubted she was reading it.   
  
Cassie's mind raced. She had to somehow try to smooth things over and make Hermione look a little more "Head-Girl-like." Cassie shook her head in a very Hermione-like way and said in her most disapproving tone, "I tried to take him up where I could privately tell him he needed to cool down. I didn't want to publicly embarrass him. I shouldn't have bothered since he did a good job of humiliating himself on his own." The fifth year burst out laughing and grinned at Cassie. The other students also laughed or smiled and Cassie breathed slowly. Okay. She had managed that embarrassing scene all right. Now she just had to make it to the toilet and take the potion. In five minutes. She could do it.   
  
Hermione was wrong, she decided, six minutes later. True, she didn't have all the tingling and rearranging and things . . .but the stuff tasted just as bad and she still felt like she was going to throw up. It was time for lunch and she wasn't sure she was going to be able to eat anything. And she still had two more doses to go. How wonderful. Cassie walked out into the common room to head down to lunch. The other students had at least stopped laughing out loud and were only grinning broadly at each other and at her. Cassie had a definite idea Ron was going to get a lot of ribbing by his fellow Gryffindors. Well. She had done her best to spare him. He had no one to blame but himself.   
  
She arrived in the entrance hall right as Hermione, Ginny, and Harry did, just fresh from Transfiguration. Even though she rationally knew who she was, it was still weird to look across and see herself. She didn't think she would ever get used to it and was glad they only had to be each other for another couple of hours.   
  
Hermione happily told Cassie that Transfiguration class had gone "just smashing." In fact, Professor McGonagal had been so impressed with her transfiguration work that she had told her she didn't need to do the assigned homework for next class as obviously her prior teachers had taught her very well, indeed. They all laughed and Ginny grinned widely. "You should have seen the look on Malfoy's face. I think he was quite impressed."   
  
Hermione looked a little smug as Cassie turned to her. "Why didn't you accidently aim your wand at him and turn him into a toad? It would have made my life a lot easier."  
  
Harry laughed. "I think someone already did." Cassie laughed loudly. He really had a wicked sense of humor. He just rarely let it show.   
  
Hermione looked around. "Did you see Ron? He never came in to class. I have no idea where he has been all day. I'm starting to wonder if he's up to something." Cassie took a deep breath. She was going to have to tell at least Hermione, and probably all of them really, what had happened in the common room. If she didn't tell them, they would find out anyway. She had seen the gossip machine work around here and she was positive that by dinnertime tonight, the entire school would know about the incident in the Gryffindor common room. The four of them found a spot near the front of the long Gryffindor table, sat down, and started to dish up food. Cassie left an open spot next to her for Ron, but was not positive that he would dare show his face. Many of the students were whispering to each other, glancing at her and smiling. She just smiled back. She didn't think the whispers and looks were malicious. People were just enjoying a funny story - and the fact it was about the Head Girl (they thought) made it all the more amusing.   
  
Hermione also noted the glances and whispers. "Hermione? Why is everyone looking at you?"   
  
"Yeah. Well. That's sort of a funny story." She hoped Hermione would think it was funny and not inspire her to curse her or anything. She grinned. "Funny story. See, um, Ron actually did go to Transfiguration today . . ." She told them everything, although she didn't describe in too much detail how Ron actually touched her. She figured that Hermione wouldn't necessarily want either Harry or Ginny to know the details of her, uh, love life. By the time she got to the part about walking up the stairs, Ginny and Harry were laughing so hard they could hardly stay on the bench. Cassie had been speaking very quietly so other students wouldn't be able to hear her and, therefore, had to wait until they quieted down. She explained how they started upstairs and what had happened as they stopped in the stairwell. Hermione's eyes grew very wide and Cassie had the fleeting thought that she obviously didn't think it was as funny as she did.   
  
Hermione opened her mouth and Cassie figured she was just about to get a very strict dressing down but fate intervened. The timing couldn't have been better, because just then Ron decided to show up to lunch. He slowly came in the door, looked up and down the Gryffindor table and then slowly, almost reluctantly, made his way up along the table toward the front. Several students smirked at Ron as he approached the group. He stopped, looked at Hermione as Cassie and then Cassie as Hermione. Finally, he walked up to Cassie, leaned down and whispered in her ear, "So who the hell are you now?"   
  
Cassie fought a giggle working its way up her throat and simply whispered back, "I'm still Pia. Sorry."  
  
Ron blushed profusely. "Oh, hell." He turned away from her, walked around the table and forced his way in between Hermione and Ginny where there really was no space but he didn't let that deter him. A plate and utensils magically appeared in front of him.   
  
However, Hermione realized that this was not going to work. She whispered in a strained and irritated voice, "Go back over and sit next to me!"   
  
Ron's expression was extremely pained as he said in a voice louder than he should, "Oh, bloody hell!"   
  
The entire table was staring at the five of them and Cassie noted that other tables were also interested in the goings-on at the Gryffindor table. Many students started laughing as he began to rise. Hermione grabbed his robe, pulled him down and said, "And be affectionate."   
  
"Ooohhh. . . ." Ron moaned as he trooped back around to Cassie, sat down next to her, stared at Hermione for a moment and then carefully, as if it was almost painful, put his arm on Cassie's shoulders, his hand resting awkwardly on her shoulder. Ginny and Harry were laughing into their hands so hard there were tears in their eyes. Hermione rolled her eyes and tossed her strawberry-blond Cassie-curls in frustration.  
  
The rest of the lunch was extremely awkward as Ron sat stiffly next to Cassie and kept looking furtively across to Hermione. Every so often she would glare at him and he would moan and make a half-hearted attempt to put his arm around Cassie or touch her in a natural-looking way. Ginny and Harry spent the remainder of the lunch looking across the table at the two of them and joining in a new round of snickering. Ginny practically spit out the pumpkin juice she was drinking when Ron looked across at Hermione and she nodded toward Cassie's hand which was resting on the table. Ron whimpered and barely touched her hand. Cassie blushed and Ron muttered a swear word under his breath. Cassie felt bad for Ron, and herself. Lunch blessedly came to an end after what seemed like a year and all five of them stood.   
  
The other three came around the table to Cassie and Ron who were standing awkwardly next to each other. Cassie again noticed numerous sets of eyes on her and Ron. As they started to walk out, Cassie heard Hermione (who was standing behind the two of them) whisper menacingly to Ron, "Hold my hand." His face lit up and he turned and reached for her hand. She glared at him. "Not my hand, my hand."   
  
His face fell. "Oh, hell." He looked at Cassie with obvious frustration and took hold of two of her fingers. Cassie blushed as she heard a few of the students chuckling and one or two say something about how they must be fighting. She even heard one girl say she'd heard what he tried to do earlier that morning and that she didn't blame Hermione for being upset. They walked out of the Great Hall and Hermione motioned all of them to follow her to an empty classroom. Cassie glanced at her watch. She had 23 minutes before she had to take another dose of the foul goop in the second beaker. So, even though she knew she, and probably Ron, were going to get yelled at, she at least knew it would be over before then. It would be an interesting experience to watch . . . herself yell at . . .herself. She wondered if she would ever recover from this or if she would wake up screaming with nightmares about this day 50 years from now.


	33. Back to Normal?

Chapter 33  
Back to Normal?  
  
The five of them stepped into the empty classroom and Harry performed a locking charm on the door while Ginny added a silencing charm for good measure. The three of them, Cassie, Hermione, and Ron all stood for a few seconds and looked at each other. Ron looked between the two girls, and then approached Hermione carefully, putting his hand against her cheek. "Hermione?"   
  
"Yes. It's me."   
  
"I know you're angry with me and I don't blame you. I was a prat . . ."  
  
"No, Ron. You didn't know . . . you couldn't have known."   
  
"But I could have . . . ."  
  
"Well, it's true that you could have . . . but you were trying to think about me." Cassie stared in mild amazement at the two of them. Hermione was wearing her face and Ron was holding her tenderly. Cassie had really expected yelling and screaming and blaming and accusing. She had expected Hermione to be mad at her for letting Ron kiss her, or mad at Ron for trying to kiss her. She had not, in a million years, imagined this. Ron let Hermione go and stepped back.   
  
"You sure look different, Hermione."  
  
"Uh . . . "  
  
"It's strange, really. But cute." Hermione flushed slightly.  
  
"Do you like this way better?"  
  
"What?"   
  
"Do you wish I looked like this all the time instead of like . . . that?" And she waved her hand frantically at Cassie, who suddenly wished she could sink into the floor. This was more what she had expected when they had come in here.   
  
"No . . . I mean . . . I like the way you look normally, not when you're all, you know, cutesy." Cassie took a deep breath. That was definitely the wrong thing to say.   
  
"So you're saying I don't normally look cute?"   
  
"No . . . I just. . . ." Ron looked over at Cassie again as though hoping she would jump in and help but she didn't really know what to say.   
  
"And by the way, did you really think I would go up to your room! Alone? What were you thinking?" She was starting to work herself into a righteous anger now, and the other three automatically stepped backward.   
  
"Oh, Hermione, I . . . I didn't know. I was surprised you'd uh, suggest something like that. If I had known you were going . . ."  
  
"You have no one to blame but yourself, Ron. If you'd come down this morning and found out what was going on or at least asked Harry or one of us in Transfiguration before running like an idiot . . ."  
  
"Oh, bloody hell! Nothing has gone right today. I'm going up and going back to bed. Maybe when I wake up, this entire nightmare will be over."  
  
"Well, that's just fine! We'll have Harry go up and wake you up for dinner. Unless, of course, you're expecting me to come up and wake you personally!"  
  
"Oh, I can't believe this."  
  
Ginny looked at Ron and tried to wipe the grin off her face. "Ron, you silly git. Did you really think Hermione would suggest what you obviously thought she was suggesting?"   
  
Ron's ears turned bright red. "She did, didn't she? I'm sorry that Polyjuice potion wasn't the first thought that crossed my mind! What was I to know? I'm leaving. Don't wake me until this has worn off and they look like themselves again!" He walked to the door, tried to open it, then turned and glared at Harry for a moment. Harry grinned, took his wand out and unsealed the door. Ron walked out, shoulders drooping, and headed toward the staircase.   
  
Cassie felt terrible, both for Ron and for Hermione. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I shouldn't have said those things to him. He obviously took it more seriously than I thought he would."  
  
"It's not your fault, Pia. I actually think it was kind of funny. I just wanted him to know I'm not going to be going up stairs anytime soon." She blushed as she finished her comment. They both glanced at their watches at that exact moment and smiled at each other. "Ten more minutes. I guess we better go." Hermione picked up Cassie's bookbag from the floor and headed over to where Ginny and Cassie were standing.   
  
"Hermione? Is this really necessary? I mean, I don't know what you do in this Ancient Runes class, but can't I just go and fake it, like I have all the other classes?" Both Ginny and Hermione started shaking their heads simultaneously and Cassie turned to Harry for a voice of reason. But he just shrugged and she remembered that he had said he had never taken the class.   
  
"It's not that easy. I'm sure Hermione and I won't be working together because we are almost done with a huge project and I've got another partner, obviously."   
  
"Well, yeah, but can't I just admit to the teacher that I don't have a clue what I'm doing? I mean, that would not necessarily mean I was a Muggle or anything. Harry would have to do the same thing if he had to take the class."   
  
"That's true, Hermione, I would." Harry flashed Cassie a look of support and she smiled at him in appreciation.   
  
"That won't work because I already told the professor that you are really good at Runes because he was throwing a fit about letting you into the class."  
  
"When did you do that?" Cassie was really confused about this as she was pretty sure that she had never met the professor and couldn't imagine when Ginny had done so.   
  
"Earlier today when I thought this was settled. Besides, Draco is in the class and believe me, he would pounce on your inability to do it in a second. It could be trouble."   
  
"Oh, great. Well, I'll take your words for it. Look, Hermione, maybe you can correct your earlier oversight and change him into a toad now." All four of them laughed and they headed out of the classroom, Ginny and Hermione to Ancient Runes and Cassie back up to Gryffindor tower. Harry went with her part of the way and then turned off to head to his next class.   
  
"Cassie?" He said as she turned down one hall and he turned down another.  
  
"Yes, Harry?"   
  
"I just wanted to . . . apologize for dragging you into this."   
  
"Into what?"   
  
"Well, the whole thing, I guess."   
  
"You didn't drag me. I came voluntarily. You don't need to apologize."   
  
"I think you're doing a great job. Everyone is convinced that you're a witch."   
  
"Thanks, Harry. That means a lot to me." She watched as he turned away from her and walked down the corridor. Then she looked at her watch and realized she had better hurry. She made it into the toilet in Gryffindor tower just in time, and hurriedly gulped down the brownish sludge before she had time to talk herself out of it. Aaagh! The stuff got worse every time. No wonder Hermione had said it was best made up fresh that morning. She hated to contemplate what it would taste like by tomorrow.   
  
She went back into the common room to read her book again and noted with embarrassment that several of the students grinned at her when she entered, while a few others whispered something or another to their friends, which was followed by snickering. Cassie again took her place on the couch and pulled out Hogwarts: A History. She decided that she would need to ask Hermione if she could borrow this book or maybe buy her own copy. It was surprisingly interesting and she would have to make sure to tell Hermione that. She took her dose a little early for the last time. Hermione had been worried that it would not wear off completely by the time she had to go to her 3:00 class and was also worried about Cassie getting to Charms looking like herself. So, at about 15 minutes to 3, Cassie stood up, spoke briefly to some of the students in the common room, picked up her bag, and made her way back through the portrait hole and down to Moaning Myrtle's toilet. She pushed the door open slowly, unsure of what to expect on the other side. Myrtle had been barely tolerable when she had Hermione and Ginny as backup. She wasn't sure what she would do if she had to deal with the ghost by herself. She waited nervously by the door, hoping she could escape if there was any indication that Myrtle wanted to visit. Fortunately, the ghost did not put in an appearance before Ginny and Hermione entered the bathroom a few minutes later.   
  
Both girls looked harried and Cassie soon realized why. Hermione's hair was already turning brown again. Cassie looked with interest at the hybrid mixture of her own blue eyes and Hermione's frizzy brown hair. It only took one glance in the mirror to verify that her potion was also wearing off although her hair was still brown. Her face was almost completely back to the one she was used to seeing when she looked in the mirror and she had to admit to herself that she was relieved. Always, in the deepest recesses of her brain, she worried that something would go wrong with these potions and things and she'd be stuck in whatever horrible position she was in. So far, so good. She watched, fascinated, as the process continued until she looked once again like herself. She raised her hand to touch her face again and gasped. Pain! Hermione's bra was digging into her shoulders and back in a very insistent signal that she had better get it off. She hurried quickly into the toilet stall, but not before she looked it over carefully for evidence of a certain pimply-faced girl. Both girls exchanged their clothing again, Hermione cleaning it quickly as they passed it under the divider. After the girls dressed, they exited the stalls and grinned at each other. Cassie felt remarkably refreshed. "It's good to be back to my old self, to use a cliche."   
  
"Yeah. Although it wasn't bad being you. It was different being so . . . attractive, I guess. All the boys kept looking at me."   
  
"I'm sure that's not true, Hermione." Cassie's face was now beet red, she was sure.   
  
'Of course it is, of course it is." Myrtle flew down from the ceiling to look the two girls over. "She's never been pretty. I think she even looked better than she does now when she was half cat!" Ginny giggled and Cassie looked between Hermione and Myrtle in confusion.   
  
"Go away, Myrtle. I don't have time to deal with you today."   
  
"When were you a cat, Hermione?"  
  
"I was never a cat! I was . . . it was a mistake. I've got to go." Hermione grabbed her own bookbag again, swinging it up over her shoulder. But Cassie could have sworn that as the girl left, she was muttering something about "I make one mistake in my second year and no one ever lets me forget it." Ginny laughed again.   
  
"I'll explain it another time. Come on. Let's get to Charms." They left a sulking Myrtle sitting on one of the sinks after she turned on all the faucets and Cassie picked up her robes carefully to avoid dragging them in the wet.   
  
As they walked down the corridor, Ginny explained to Cassie what had happened in the earlier class. "It was really good Hermione went to Runes for you. We were right about my being stuck with my original partner. But to make it even worse, somehow Malfoy finagled a way to be her, your, her partner. You should have seen the smug expression on his face when he thought he had you to himself for almost two hours."  
  
Cassie whistled in amazement. "Did it go all right? He wasn't suspicious or anything?"  
  
"She said that everything went fine. I'm sure they did. She's used to dealing with the prat."   
  
"That would have really been a disaster, wouldn't it have?"  
  
"Could have been." They were quickly approaching the Charms classroom and they stopped talking about the Polyjuice potion. Rhiannon had saved them two spots, and both girls sat down gratefully.   
  
It was an uneventful class for all three of them. The only thing that really happened was that Rhiannon noticed Niles staring at Cassie and started teasing her about going to Hogsmeade with him on Saturday. Cassie blushed as Ginny whispered to her that she obviously had another member of her ever-growing fan club. The majority of the class time was spent discussing the previous class's activities and how everyone's storm and subsequent snowman-animation had progressed. Professor Flitwick mentioned the snowball fight between Cassie's, Ginny's and Rhiannon's snowmen to the rest of the class and gave extra points to Gryffindor for their originality and powerful magical abilities. Cassie almost laughed, but managed to control herself.   
  
The three girls left Charms feeling pretty good about the extra points and laughed and visited all the way back to their dorm room about the snowmen, Niles' puppy dog expression for Cassie, and a seventh-year Ravenclaw Rhiannon had a crush on. As the girls walked up the stairs, they heard raised voices, but when they got into their room, they were really surprised to see Elspeth and Saffron arguing with each other. Both their faces were red and sweaty and it was obvious they had been going at it for some time.   
  
"Well, it was none of your business, Saffron! You had no right to tell your mum about Colin and me. Especially since you knew she would immediately tell my mum!"  
  
"So I'm supposed to censor my letters home to make sure to protect your little relationship with him! I didn't know that she'd even care! It's not like you and my mum even know each other!"   
  
"Oh, please! Your mum is a huge gossip and you know it. I wouldn't be surprised if her mouth has a higher circulation than the Daily Prophet!" Ginny grimaced and the three newcomers tried to intervene in what was obviously becoming a very nasty fight.   
  
"Take that back! How dare you? I didn't know my mum would care about you making a fool out of yourself chasing after a Muggle-born! But since she did, she was obligated to pass on the news to your mum! After all, maybe your mum can talk you out of this horrible idea! Why you would want to taint your family's pure blood with Muggle blood, I'll never know."  
  
"I'm not tainting my family's supposed pure blood by dating Colin."  
  
"Well, if you marry him you will be. Let's face reality, Elspeth! Muggles are inferior to us. Everyone knows that. They're less intelligent and childish! How they've ever been able to survive is beyond me. Pia, Ginny, you're both pure blood. I know your family are all Muggle lovers, but even you have to admit that Muggles are inferior to us. Would you want to taint your family's name and blood by marrying a Muggle? Would your parents want you to do that? Tell her what a mistake she's making!"  
  
Ginny looked at Cassie with an embarrassed, pained look. "For Merlin's sake, Saffron! It isn't like Elspeth is going to marry Colin and have a baby tomorrow. They're just dating. Besides, Colin is a wizard, not a Muggle."   
  
"He's a Muggle-born wizard! Therefore, he still has Muggle blood and he'd still be watering down a pure-blood family. At least you agree with me, Pia, don't you?"  
  
Cassie felt sick to her stomach. The vehemency concerning Muggles in Saffron's voice scared and depressed her. She looked at her and just shook her head. "Saffron, you're mistaken about Muggles. You can't just make a blanket statement like that. Muggles are just like wizards. You have smart ones and dumb ones."  
  
"Oh, you're just as bad as the rest of the Weasleys. You're the ones who are ruining the last pureblood families that are left!" Saffron looked mutinously at all four of her roommates, obviously not swayed by their arguments. But to be fair, Cassie thought, she wasn't swayed by Saffron's arguments either. She thought Colin and Elspeth were a cute couple, and if they wanted to be together, it was no one's business but their own.   
  
Ginny's expression was stony and her face had turned a deep red. "How dare you say that! Your arrogant attitude is what's destroying the last pureblood families. There's nothing wrong with Muggles, especially if they're witches or wizards. Are you going to try to tell me Hermione Granger is less intelligent than you because she was Muggle-born? Please! No one in this school would agree with that comment! How about Harry Potter? His mum was Muggle-born but he's a powerful wizard!" Ginny whirled, eyes flashing, as she found the one roommate she thought would bring some rationality into this argument. "Rhiannon, your mum was Muggle-born. You agree with me, don't you?"  
  
Rhiannon hesitated for a moment and then walked over and stood next to Saffron. "No, I don't agree with you, Ginny, Elspeth! Sorry, Pia. I know you and Ginny love Muggles, but you're not seeing the full picture. Sure, my mum was Muggle-born but she's a powerful witch. But that's not enough for the people around here. I'm still considered inferior here at school! Admit it! It's true." Cassie looked at Ginny, waiting for a denial. But Ginny only nodded, her eyes closing in embarrassment. Elspeth was breathing hard in the aftermath of the yelling, but she didn't disagree with Rhiannon's stark portrait of her life. "Plus, I don't fit in with her family either. They're nice enough and everything. Some of them know about us, but only a few. And after the first few minutes of small talk, I really don't have anything to talk about. They get really uncomfortable if I mention Hogwarts and my mum and dad have stopped even trying to invite them to our house. So, even two generations removed from the Muggles, there are problems. It's just not that easy! It really isn't!" Rhiannon looked pleadingly at Elspeth. " Saffron was probably wrong to tell her mum because I'm sure she knew it would get back to your family. But, maybe it's for the best if you break it off with him now, before you get even more attached." Elspeth let out a gut-wrenching sob and threw herself onto her bed, pulling the curtains closed around her.   
  
Rhiannon looked at Ginny and Pia. "I'm not trying to be mean to her, I'm really not. I'm trying to be realistic. Imagine Colin introducing her to his extended family -- you get the picture. It's not pretty." Saffron and Rhiannon looked at each other and then at Elspeth's closed curtains.   
  
Rhiannon shrugged and she and Saffron walked out the door. Ginny and Cassie watched the door shut behind them and then walked over to Elspeth's bed. Ginny pulled the curtains aside and patted Elspeth on the back. "It's not as bad as all that, Elspeth. I think she's exaggerating. Not everyone's family is like that."   
  
"How would you know?" Cassie jumped in at this sort of rude rejoinder to Ginny.  
  
"Her brother is dating Hermione, remember? And his family isn't complaining."   
  
Elspeth sat up, wiping her face. "Yeah, but I'm not sure, Ginny, that your family is a realistic example of what most are like. You know that." Ginny had to agree.   
  
"But you don't want to stop seeing him, do you?"   
  
"No. I don't. I've had a crush on him forever . . . and he's even more wonderful than I thought. I'm going to have to hide my relationship with him somehow. Maybe Colin and I can study in empty classrooms and not sit by each other at dinner or anything."   
  
"You've got to be kidding, Elspeth. Do you really think Colin would agree to date you but only where people wouldn't see you? I can just see it now: 'Oh, sure, Colin, you can kiss me - out behind the Quidditch pitch where no one will see us, because I'm embarrassed to be seen with a Muggle-born wizard.'"  
  
Elspeth's eyes filled with tears again. "You know I don't think that way."  
  
"Then you better decide what you want to do. It isn't fair to Colin."  
  
"He hasn't even kissed me yet. Maybe he doesn't even like me enough to want to kiss me. Maybe I'm fooling myself into thinking this could be serious." "  
  
Cassie smiled. "I think he does like you. It just took him a while to admit it. He's a little shy, obviously. And maybe he feels self-conscious about the, uh, Muggle-born thing, too."   
  
"You think that could be it?"   
  
"It's a possibility, isn't it?"   
  
"Yeah. I guess so. I'm supposed to be meeting him for dinner in a minute."   
  
"Well, wash your face and fix your hair and go down and convince him that it's worth the effort for the two of you. If you think it is, than it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks." Elspeth looked at Ginny and Cassie.   
  
"My parents might disinherit me, you know."   
  
"Maybe Colin's family is independently wealthy," Cassie suggested, trying to bring a smile to the girl's face.   
  
Both Ginny and Elspeth laughed. "His dad is a milkman!"   
  
"Oh. Well, I guess that's a no on that front, then." Elspeth stood up and shook out the wrinkles from her robe.   
  
"It's not going to get better by my hiding up here, though. So, I may as well go down and see him. He'll be worried if I don't come for dinner." A few minutes later, the slight girl left the room and Cassie and Ginny looked at each other.   
  
"That was much uglier than I expected it to be. I thought the two of them liked each other." Ginny shrugged.   
  
"Saffron's a bit of a purist. She gets personally offended if anyone even thinks of 'diluting' the wizard blood in a family. She really should have been in Slytherin." Cassie crossed over to her own bed and pulled back the curtains, hoping to lay down for a few minutes before they went down to dinner. She hadn't done that much today but she was still exhausted. And this little emotional drama that had just played out in front of her didn't help. She couldn't help but let out a squeal as she saw what was sitting on her bed. It was an owl. A very familiar-looking owl.  
  
"Icharus! How long have you been here?" Of course, the owl didn't answer her, just looked at her through one reproachful eye and stuck out his leg. Cassie took the parchment quickly, smiling despite herself at George's handwriting. Ginny walked up behind her.   
  
"Oh. Poor baby. I bet you're hungry and thirsty, aren't you? We'll let Pia answer George's letter while I take care of you . . . ." Cassie looked in surprise at Ginny who was now talking babytalk and cooking at the owl, picking it up and stroking it's feathers.   
  
"Do you really think I should answer him? We're supposed to see him in two days." Her stomach clenched as the reality of that visit struck home once again. She really did not want to have the conversation with him that she knew was inevitable.   
  
"Well, of course. Otherwise, he would have been long gone. He was obviously told to wait for a reply." Ginny kept cooing at the owl and petting it, setting it on her dresser and pouring it a small bowl of water from the pitcher that was always present in their room. Cassie unrolled the parchment and sat on her bed to read it, losing all interest in Ginny or the owl as she read what George had to say to her.   
  
Dear Pia, It is Wednesday afternoon. I wanted to wait to write to you when I knew a little bit more about what was supposed to happen tonight, but things are still vague. Hopefully, by the time you get this tomorrow everything will be over and everyone will be safe and well. I hate the waiting part but I think Fred thrives on it. Drives me insane. I am sick to my stomach and worried. He is bouncing around, threatening death to all Death Eaters everywhere. This is typical. He'll probably pack his pockets with all sorts of fireworks and noisemakers. He always says they are good distractions in the heat of battle. I'm not sure that I trust those to protect me against Unforgiveable curses. I don't want you to worry about me. Although I know I look like an idiot and I certainly act like one around you, I've been okay thus far. Harry may come tonight. So take care of Ginny. If anything should happen . . . well. I won't think that far ahead. I'm going to assume that we will see each other on Saturday. I can't bear to think of any other options. I've got a special surprise for you. It's not fireworks or Dragon Kisses. Promise. I'll see you very soon, now, okay? George  
  
Cassie read the note several times over. She couldn't believe that on the afternoon before he went off to fight he took the time to write to her. She pulled out a clean piece of parchment and wrote back to him carefully.   
  
George, By now I know that everyone is back safely. I didn't know you would be fighting until Harry came back and said you and Fred were fine. My heart just about stopped. I couldn't believe that you had been fighting and I hadn't known about it. Promise me you won't do that again. Please let me know in advance. That way I can be praying for you as well as Harry. I am counting the hours until I see you on Saturday. It's not too much longer now. And I don't need anything so please don't bring me any presents. I don't have one for you and don't think I have a chance to get one before then. So, whatever it is, leave it at home and just bring you. Pia   
  
She stood up and walked over to Icharus who was looking, if it was possible, much more content. The owl accepted the parchment with dignity and flew out the window a few seconds later. "I'm starving." Cassie smiled at Ginny.   
  
"Yeah, so am I. Let's go eat." Ginny didn't ask what George had to say and Cassie didn't volunteer the information. "Do you think he'll get that before Saturday?"   
  
"He should get it tomorrow. Are you excited about Hogsmeade?"  
  
"In a way. But just when I think that everything will be fine, something like this afternoon happens, and I realize that I may be deluding myself."   
  
"I really don't think so, Pia. And I know my brothers."   
  
"I guess we'll find out. I need to decide what I'm going to wear. Do we wear school robes on these visits or what?"  
  
"No. You can . . ." And the girls discussed various wardrobe options as they descended the stairs and as they walked to dinner. Hermione kept shooting them dirty looks under her eyebrows while Harry and Ron discussed some professional Quidditch game that had happened the day before and been written about in the newspaper.   
  
The furor over Ron's embarrassment had died down, pretty much, although there were a few catcalls across the room at Hermione and Ron as they sat down. Things seemed to be back to an even keel between them and Cassie marveled at their volatile relationship. She thought that in general they enjoyed the arguing and the fighting. Harry had told her when she first met them that it seemed to be an integral part of their relating to each other. She didn't think she'd enjoy that sort of constant snapping, but it worked for them. She watched Harry and Ginny across the table, also. They seemed to have a much more "normal" dating situation. He fussed over her when she needed it and vice versa. They teased and laughed, but it was rare that she ever heard Ginny say a cross word to Harry. Not that she didn't have a temper with him. It just seemed to mostly be directed at things around him rather than at him personally. Cassie also looked down the table and found Elspeth. Colin was sitting by her and she thought it was possible they were holding hands under the table. She couldn't find Saffron at the table although Rhiannon was eating and smiling with some of her friends and not even looking at the two of them.   
  
Cassie had one unpleasant experience during dinner which was blessedly short-lived. Professor Snape sat down to eat just as she was finishing up. He glared at her under hooded lids for a few minutes and she was reminded that tomorrow morning right after breakfast she would get to face him in his territory - Potions class. She was really excited about that. Ha! She refused to be intimidated, though, and after a few minutes of feeling his eyes practically drilling holes through her, she turned her gaze to him and was pleased to see him look away. She decided that she would remember that in the morning. It was bound to be an interesting class.   
  
The evening was filled with finishing up homework and watching Harry and Ron play chess. It was the first time Cassie had really seen them play at their best and she had to admit that she was impressed. Harry lost, which she knew was expected, but she noticed the Ron worked pretty hard at it before he trapped a loudly complaining king in one of the corners of the board. Harry also introduced her to the joys of Exploding Snap. Cassie shrieked the first couple of times the cards blew up and everyone laughed. She didn't play too much as she decided the idea of having explosions happen under her hand was not really her cup of tea. She watched some first years play Gobstones, which no one could really explain to her. She tried not to look too confused as she gathered that all witches and wizards played these games from the time they were very young and Ginny assured her that a pure-blood witch would certainly understand the rules.   
  
That night, as she lay once more in her four-poster bed, Cassie contemplated the day. Someday she would be able to tell someone that she had been Head Girl at Hogwarts for four hours. That was probably pretty impressive, considering she was Muggle through and through. And tomorrow was Friday. And the day after that was Saturday. And Saturday meant Hogsmeade, which also meant George. And she fell asleep smiling, hardly daring to believe that life could be as wonderful as it seemed to be right at this moment.


	34. A Rose by Any Other Name

Chapter 34  
A Rose By Any Other Name  
  
Cassie woke up suddenly, staring in a bit of disorientation at her closed curtains. Then she smiled to herself. Ginny hadn't had to wake her up this morning. That was good. She usually never had problems getting up in the morning and it was strange having to be woken up. Of course, at home she got to use a wonderful invention called an alarm clock. It wasn't that the witches sharing her room didn't understand the basic concept because each of them had one -- it was just that theirs all ran on magic rather than the electric plug that came attached to hers. So, her alarm clock had taken up residence next to her hair dryer in the bottom part of her locked trunk and this entire past week, poor Ginny had taken over the duty. But not today. She sat up and stretched, thinking over her class schedule for Friday. Double Potions right after breakfast which today should be particularly interesting. Then Defense with Remus. This was one of her favorite classes and she was looking forward to it. Then, after lunch was Herbology, the thought of which Cassie acknowledged didn't scare her as badly as it did on Tuesday. But today, she probably could have smiled through three classes of Double Potions because today was Friday. Which meant tomorrow was Saturday. Which meant that tomorrow . . . she got to see George. She had made it through a week of pretending to be a witch. And that was her reward. Not that it had been all bad. It had had its fun moments and its exciting moments.   
  
Cassie shifted in her bed, listening to see if any of the other girls were up. It was still dark and she wondered if she was congratulating herself on waking up on time when it was actually 2 a.m. She stuck her arm under the mattress and pulled out her one item of contraband. An electric torch -- the only concession she got to make for the fact that she couldn't use a, let's see, yes, a Lumos spell. She clicked on the torch and checked her watch. 6:30. Ginny should be waking up in just a few minutes. She smiled to herself as she hid the torch again under the mattress. It was amazing to her that she had fit in as well as she had. And she was actually getting used to this place. Cassie felt that, even with some of the more unpleasant and embarrassing moments, she had learned to accommodate to the strange world of Hogwarts. And, for the most part, she was enjoying her experience. She smiled to herself as she thought of some of the things she had seen and done. She would love to tell her school friends back home about her experiences, but knew she couldn't. Perhaps it was just as well. As she thought of her old school and friends, Cassie couldn't help but wonder what excuse, if any, was given for her sudden disappearance. She hoped they missed her at least a little and wondered when or if, she would see them again. For that matter, she also wondered when she would see her family again.   
  
Cassie was brought out of her private thoughts by the sounds of Ginny stirring in her bed and the curtains being drawn back. Cassie sat up and opened her own bed curtains. She smiled at Ginny's look of surprise.   
  
"You're awake!"  
  
"Yes. I must be getting used to the hours we're being forced to keep."   
  
Ginny laughed. "That's good. Of course, we only have one more week here and then term is over and you can get spoiled sleeping in again." Cassie smiled faintly. She was actually extremely nervous about the end of term. She had no idea where she was going to be sent or what she would be expected to do.   
  
"Ginny? Where do you think I'll go, after this, I mean?"   
  
Ginny looked at her with knitted brows for a minute. "I don't know. I thought they had told you where-" She grimaced as Cassie shook her head.  
  
"I'm nervous. You never saw Harry's place but it . . . I don't know if I could handle that."   
  
"It was that ugly? I mean, it was just a house, right?"  
  
"It wasn't that it was ugly, although it certainly lacked any style. But, he was so alone there."  
  
"Until you." Cassie's eyes flew up to meet Ginny's, terrified suddenly that she had opened a very nasty can of worms. They both sort of skirted around the issue that Harry and Cassie had, well, dated was probably the best term for it, for those three weeks. Ginny's eyes were slightly shadowed now, looking at Cassie. "He . . . had you. He said you saved him."  
  
"I'm sorry, Ginny. I didn't mean to . . ."  
  
"No. Don't apologize. I'm glad, really. I like the thought that he had someone there to . . . help him. Someone to take care of him." Ginny smiled and Cassie was pleased that the warmth really did meet her eyes. "As for where they are sending you, I'll see if I can think of any ideas. It can't be that hard to guess. Meanwhile, though, we better get up or we'll miss having the shower to ourselves."   
  
Ginny had been right. She had just barely finished drying Cassie's hair when some other girls came into the shower and it had been a bit awkward finishing up the usual morning routine. They finally settled on a story they had worked out earlier in the week with Cassie asking for advice on her hairstyle and Ginny making suggestions and "helping out" with her wand as the hair was curled and styled. It was probably stupid, but it worked. And for some reason that Cassie didn't want to think about too deeply, she couldn't stop smiling this morning. She had a sappy grin on her face that just didn't want to go away. Save it for tomorrow, Spencer, she told herself and then laughed when she realized she was addressing herself by her made-up name. Ginny shot her a puzzled glance at the laugh, but Cassie just waved her hand is dismissal.   
  
The usual planning meeting went rather routinely, and Cassie was pleased that it should be an easy day. If she could just survive Potions. Yes, she had her Skiving Snackboxes, but the nosebleed incident had been so unpleasant that she wasn't sure she wanted to try one of the others. Well, she'd play it by ear. No use panicking now. It was hard to know exactly what Professor Snape would do. The man was certainly an enigma.   
  
"Maybe they'll send you to Grimmauld Place." Ginny quietly hazarded a guess as they walked through the corridors. It's already charmed and you'd be protected there."   
  
"No way." Hermione replied. "If that was the case, she would have gone straight there. It's already so heavily warded that they wouldn't have needed to strengthen them or add more." None of the four friends had been able to suggest any possibilities for Cassie's ultimate destination but they all agree to give it some thought, saying they were pretty good and figuring things out that the adults never thought they could and taking it up as a challenge that they would have it all decided by the end of term. Cassie was grateful for Hermione's reply. She didn't know where or what Grim Old Place was, but she knew it didn't sound very pleasant.   
  
Breakfast had passed without too much incident although she had been forced to bury her head in her hands for several long minutes as she waited for a bright blush to pass. She hoped that no one had noticed. Hermione and Harry had gotten their usual copies of the Daily Prophet and were reading some of the interesting bits out loud to the rest of them. "Oooh," Hermione had mentioned as she scanned the front page, "There's a big Ministry Christmas Party tomorrow night at the Ministry Offices. It says that everyone who is anyone will be there. Ron? Do you think your parents will go? I'd love to . . . too bad students aren't allowed." Ron had been chewing on his waffle and had shaken his head in reply to Hermione's question. After he swallowed, he answered.   
  
"Nah. That's not their cuppa at all. And George and Fred probably won't even be invited. Bill might go, though. It sounds like something he and Fleur would love." It was the mention of George that had sent Cassie into that blush, because she remembered that George had asked her to go and she knew that Ron's parents probably actually would be attending and she couldn't even say anything because she still wasn't ready to tell the others about her and George. She just couldn't bear of the idea of everyone knowing he had dumped her when she confessed that she wasn't a witch after all. It was going to be bad enough having to have Ginny all embarrassed for her and worried about her.   
  
Fortunately, the idea of a fancy Christmas party didn't hold either Ron's or Harry's interest very long and although the girls were obviously interested, conversation moved on rather quickly to a topic that Cassie enjoyed more, even though usually she didn't understand it. Quidditch. She loved to watch them talk about it. Harry always looked happy and relaxed when discussing the latest professional games or players and various moves that the Gryffindor team should try out at next practice. Ginny was getting so involved in the discussion this morning that Hermione had to remind them to go to Potions. "Good luck, Pia."   
  
"Thanks." Cassie swung her bag over her shoulder, then double checked that the Snackboxes were still safely in their pocket. If she had to use them, she would use the Puking ones. She had had quite a bit of pumpkin juice this morning and thought that the violent orange color would look really lovely on Professor Snape's black robes. Sort of Halloween-y. She got an almost malicious thrill out of the thought. If she had to use them, she may as well enjoy the results. She was positive (especially after the nosebleed yesterday) that she wouldn't enjoy the process.   
  
"Maybe Diagon Alley," Ginny suggested as they walked down the stairs. Cassie lit up with that suggested hiding place. That would be great fun. She could see George all the time. Well, if he wanted to see her. Plus, there were shops and people and . . . but Ginny burst that bubble almost immediately. "What am I saying? You can't hide there. Too crowded. Too dangerous. Plus, how would they put wards over the whole Alley. That was a stupid suggestion."   
  
"You're probably right." Cassie hated to admit it, but she was sure that her pleasure and enjoyment were undoubtedly low on the list of Professor Dumbledore's priorities when it came to hiding her. Her mind was so caught up in thoughts about her future hiding place, that she didn't see the danger until it was in her face and it was too late to avoid it. It was tall, blonde, and slender, and it pulled her away from Ginny with an almost possessive touch.   
  
"Spencer. I want to talk to you." He pushed her against the wall and put one arm on each side of her so that he was effectively blocking her from leaving. He wasn't standing terribly close to her because his arms were fairly long, but it was closer than she liked. He was starting to get extremely scary.   
  
"But I don't want to talk to you. Leave me alone." Cassie saw Ginny's eyes, wide and panicked, past Draco's shoulder as he shifted positions and she shook her head. Draco wouldn't really hurt her, not out here in the hall with students walking by. She did hate the idea of anyone seeing him and thinking they were an item, but she was positive that this was exactly the impression Draco wanted to give everyone.   
  
"Pia, I wanted you to know how sorry I was about yesterday. I didn't mean to upset you so badly."   
  
Cassie felt the first flutterings of panic now settling in her stomach. What had happened yesterday that she couldn't remember? She had never even . . . oh, God. Something had happened between Draco and Hermione. What? Hermione hadn't said anything! "Uh . . . well. You did. Whether you meant to or not isn't the point, exactly."  
  
"I know. I understand completely. I was really out of line. So, I wanted to apologize."  
  
"Okay. Apology accepted. I've got to get into class." She tried to push her way past the arm that was holding her in place, but it didn't budge and neither could she. She thought about ducking under it, but his body shifted closer and she realized it would be futile.   
  
"You've still got a few minutes." Draco glanced over his shoulder at Ginny, who looked like she was practically hyperventilating. "And you can tell your watchdog to leave you alone. Merlin. She hangs on you like you were permanently attached at the hip or something."  
  
"We're friends. She knows I'm still adjusting . . . It's none of your business. Let me go, please, Malfoy."   
  
"You called me Draco, yesterday. I liked hearing you say it. Say it again." Cassie was amazed. She could no more imagine Hermione calling Malfoy Draco then she could imagine Ron commenting that his blonde hair was stylishly disheveled, but then on the other hand, why would he lie? She had been there - theoretically.   
  
"I . . . But that was before the, uh, incident. You let me down. I think Malfoy covers it."  
  
"Aaah, come on, Pia. Let's let bygones be bygones. I brought you a present to make up for it." He waved his wand, opened his hand, and held out the most perfect deep red rose Cassie had ever seen. She gasped in surprise.   
  
"Well, I . . . I couldn't take it. It's fine. I told you. Apology accepted. I don't want to be late into Potions. I don't need detention this weekend." Draco pushed the rose into her hand.   
  
"I'll let you go . . . but first I want to hear you say that it wasn't that bad and that you did over-react just a little bit."   
  
"Um . . ." Cassie hated to say anything of the sort, but Ginny was now practically dancing on the spot, plus she had her wand out and Cassie thought that if she didn't get away from Malfoy soon, hexes would start flying and that almost certainly meant detention. All right. She was getting to be a good liar. "Okay. Fine. It wasn't that bad and I over-reacted. Now can I please get to class?" She couldn't miss the smug expression that flitted across his face before he forced it back into contrite mode.   
  
"I didn't think you really minded. Why would you?" But then his arm moved and she stepped closer to Ginny, who grabbed her with a force that Cassie was pretty sure would leave bruises. "Before you go, though, Pia . . . I think it's more appropriate that a gift from me looks like this. Think of me today. I'll be thinking of you." And he waved his wand again and the rose turned from Gryffindor maroon to an almost emerald green and he laughed at her expression of shock. But before she could say anything, he was gone down the hall, black robes trailing behind him. Cassie stared at the green rose in her hand and at Ginny.   
  
"Do you have any idea what that was all about?"  
  
"None. But I suggest we find out before something else happens. Come on or we really will be late."   
  
Cassie hurried up to her usual seat, sliding into it just seconds before the professor entered the room and looked around. His eyes landed briefly on her before he began his lecture. His glance was icy and she shivered briefly, remembering the hatred practically radiating off him the last time she had been in this classroom. She felt none of that today, but he probably was just blocking her out. Well, no use dwelling on that. She had to get through two hours of class. She laid the rose on the table and hurriedly grabbed parchment and quill as well as ink bottle out of her bag. When she uncapped the ink bottle and dipped her quill, she glanced over at Niles who was staring at the rose like he expected it to grow a head and bite him. Of course, in this school, maybe it could. She looked up at him, wondering what was wrong. He looked at her with cold eyes and then turned deliberately away from her, writing rapidly on his own paper.   
  
Professor Snape did test the Veritaserum on three of the students, but he didn't even look Cassie's direction. Not that she was complaining. It was quite revealing to watch him question them. He seemed to be going for the high embarrassment factor, which greatly amused most of the rest of the class but Cassie thought was just plain mean. All the secrets these students had practically been forced to confess would be all over the school by lunchtime and she imagined that it would take a few days for some of the rumors to die down. The only sad thing about Professor Snape's complete refusal to acknowledge her existence was that she had no cause to use a Puking Pastille and by the end of the class, she really wanted to. He deserved it. She was really tempted to hand one in passing to the 7th year Ravenclaw girl that Snape had humiliated beyond belief when he had used the Veritaserum on her, but she decided that having the girl then projectile vomit in public probably wouldn't really help her situation, even if it did get back at Snape, just a little.   
  
Niles didn't say a single word to her through the entire class and Cassie could practically feel the waves of anger emanating from him. It was only as she picked up the green rose to leave class at the end that she understood why. She wanted to drop the rose in disgust, but decided she would stuff it in her bag so she could confront Hermione with it at lunch as proof that she had better confess the entire story so that Cassie wouldn't be caught unawares again, if it wasn't already to late to avert disaster. "He said," Niles began and both of them knew who he meant. "That he would give you that to apologize for yesterday and that if you took it and only accepted his apology, he would leave it Gryffindor red. But if you admitted that you had actually liked what he did, he would turn it Slytherin green. That way, we'd all know. I must say, Spencer. I thought you had a little more class than that." He turned on his heel and stalked out of the Potions classroom and Cassie stared in shock after him.   
  
"The big, bloody, supercilious, . . . conniving, lying, . . .prat!" It wasn't that she couldn't think of enough bad words to describe Draco Malfoy in that moment, it was just that most of them she refused to say in public, even if she could think them in her mind. She told Ginny what Niles had just said and Ginny's expression of disgust rivaled hers.   
  
"So you sat there with that thing on your table the entire class while every Slytherin in the class noticed, even Snape!"  
  
"Yes."   
  
"It'll be all over the school by lunchtime. Ooh. Hermione! When I get my hands on her . . . she's toast!" Cassie couldn't believe this. She had unwittingly been the instigator of what was going to be a very nasty problem. Now everyone would think that she actually liked Draco and her protests about him would fall on deaf ears to anyone other than Ron, Harry, and Hermione. And Ginny, of course. After all, it wasn't like she could exactly confess that she hadn't been at the incident she supposedly enjoyed. She just had a terrible thought flash in her brain and she stopped in amazement at the hurt in her heart.   
  
"What if George hears, tomorrow? He'll hate me even more."   
  
Ginny patted her arm, but continued guiding her down the hall. "Once you've told him the big secret, you can confess about the other. Don't worry."  
  
"But . . ."  
  
"Look. This is a problem. But it will blow over just like everything else. Maybe all the other embarrassing stuff that came out in Potions today will actually be more interesting to people than Draco's love life. Maybe Niles was exaggerating. After all, I think he had a bit of a crush on you at first. Probably still does. So maybe he's just jealous of Draco or something."   
  
"He didn't have a crush on me." But even as she said it, Cassie knew it wasn't true. He had. He had at least liked her a little bit, as a friend, if not more. Now, though, she was pretty sure that he would never even speak to her again if it could possibly be avoided. She felt a threat of a headache behind her eyes and she allowed herself to be led into the Defense classroom a few minutes later in a bit of a daze.   
  
Her worries about the situation with Draco, however, were almost immediately shoved aside when she saw Remus. He looked like death had come for a visit. His face was pale and thin and his hands were practically trembling as he welcomed them to class, his eyes carefully looking over all the students.   
  
"What is wrong with him?" Cassie asked Ginny quickly, as they turned to their books for a moment to look up a new defense spell they would be working on that day.   
  
"Uh , well. He must be sick. I'm sure he'll be better soon." Cassie looked at Ginny with interest. She was obviously lying, but why would she lie about Remus? She knew how close . . . Oh. It suddenly dawned on her and she pursed her lips as she read over the material in the book quickly. It didn't mean much to her, although the various complexities of magic still were fascinating.   
  
"I think today, students, we'll duel again. We took a bit of a break to discuss the Unforgiveable curses and I was pleased at how well you have learned about them. Your essays about the killing curse look to be extremely interesting. However, I know you were enjoying the dueling and I want to make sure you all have plenty of practice before the end of term next week. Who would like to go first?" Cassie watched with a slight smile on her face as the students raised their hands and got paired up. The first dual passed without incident, both students being rather weak in both the casting and defending areas and neither of them being able to do much damage to the other. The next pairing though, shocked and scared her. "All right. Let's see. Ginny. Why don't you show us what you and Pia can do?" Cassie stared at him. Had he lost his mind? There was no way she was getting up there to fight Ginny. She had seen Ginny fight. She'd be dead before she could even hit the floor. She shook her head.   
  
"I really don't think I'm ready, Professor." She tried not to sound to pitiful, but she couldn't help it.   
  
"Oh, come now. Haven't you ever dueled before?" Cassie shook her head, both at the question and at the possibility that she may actually have to get up there and face Ginny . . . who would have her wand . . . pointed at her. "Well, even if you can't protect yourself, you won't get hurt and it's good to learn how to take a hex or a curse, too."   
  
"I -"  
  
"I won't hurt you, come on." Ginny was standing, grinning in what Cassie thought was an almost evil way, apparently not seeing Cassie's complete inability to do anything to defend herself as a major problem.   
  
"I-"  
  
"Just remember your Protego charm. And the one we learned today, of course." Remus smiled and Cassie could have sworn he winked. "Speed is the key. Otherwise, you won't get anything done before Ginny gets you. She's quick." Was that supposed to make her feel better?  
  
"Yes, but-" Ginny was standing at the front of the class now, wand out, smiling. Cassie gave up protesting and walked slowly to the front, holding her wand in her sweaty hand in practically a death grip. She turned and faced Ginny like all the other students had done when paired up and held her wand out, pleased that at least her hand held steady. She didn't look as nervous as she was, then, because she felt like she was practically shivering.   
  
Ginny didn't make her wait long. She winked and then said a word Cassie was sure she had never heard. She tried to at least say the word "Protego" but it didn't come out fast enough and she felt Ginny's spell hit her. It didn't hurt, surprisingly enough. In fact, Cassie thought for a split second, it almost tickled. And then she started laughing, giggling, drawing in deep breaths of air, and laughing again. Remus said the counter curse and everyone smiled.   
  
"Ah, the tickling charm. That is a good one for dueling. Really incapacitates but does no permanent harm. Faster this time, Pia." But, of course, Cassie knew that was just for show. Obviously, he wanted her to learn how to take a curse without flinching or screaming in terror. Okay. She would learn. Four additional times, Ginny hexed, jinxed, charmed, and finally cursed her and even though her "Protegos" were getting faster, it was acknowledged by the entire class that she would obviously need extra practice. As Cassie lay there on the floor after she had been thrown ten feet back by the last curse (landing on a convenient cushion), she contemplated the pattern on the ceiling. Ginny came over to help her up, smiling down at her.   
  
"You, my dear cousin, are going to need some extra tutoring. You didn't do very well at all."  
  
"Thanks." But everyone clapped politely as they were allowed to return to their seats and Ginny winked at her. Cassie sat down cautiously, pleased that she seemed to be suffering no after effects of flying across the room.   
  
After class, she went up to Remus. He smiled at her. "You did well, at both things." Cassie supposed he meant at both taking the curses and at pretending she actually had a chance of defending herself. He handed her an envelope and Cassie was pleased to see that it was a letter from her parents with her mom's handwriting scrawled across the front. "They miss you. But they're fine and pleased that you are so happy here."  
  
"My dad's doing okay?" Remus nodded and then answered another student's question. Remus looked at her again.   
  
"Did you have a question?"  
  
"I just wondered if you were all right." Remus looked puzzled. "I mean . . . I know it's hard, but I didn't expect you to be this ill. I guess I'd never seen you around a full moon before." Suddenly, her eyes got wide and she realized she had probably embarrassed him. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to . . "  
  
"I didn't know you knew." Cassie just nodded. It wasn't a secret, obviously, but she imagined that it still wasn't something people usually brought up to him. "It's okay. I'm pleased it doesn't scare you."   
  
"Harry trusts you and likes you. So do I. Thanks for the letter."   
  
"No problem. I won't be going back for a few days for obvious reasons. But if you get a letter written, I'm sure someone can get it to them sooner than that." Ginny motioned to her.   
  
"Come on. We need to get to lunch and we've got to talk to Hermione. If there's any hope of squelching flying rumors, speed is the key." It was as bad, if not worse, than they had imagined. Not every student, but most of them it seemed, had now heard about the green rose and about how Pia and Draco were now an item. And those that didn't, were quickly informed. Cassie kicked herself mentally a thousand times through lunch. Ron informed her that Hermione was studying in the library and that they could find her there afterward. Both Harry and Ron seemed to be the only students in the entire school who were ignorant about the rumor that was now almost visibly flying around the tables. Ginny, who was extremely aggravated, told them about the entire incident, though, thus making Cassie's humiliation complete. Cassie didn't blame Hermione at all. She knew for herself what a devious worm Draco could be. She shouldn't even have given him the benefit of the doubt, that he might actually be sincerely apologizing. No. That would have been completely out of character for him.   
  
All four of them found Hermione at a table in the back of the library, surrounded by very thick books. She was extremely surprised to see them. "What's up, guys? You look worried."   
  
"Well, we are a bit." Ginny started out. "We need to know what happened between you and Draco yesterday."   
  
Hermione flushed bright red. "It was nothing, really. I fixed him, though. I think he was surprised."   
  
"We wish we hadn't been surprised this morning."  
  
"What do you mean?"   
  
"He apologized to Pia."   
  
"Oh. Well, that's good. He should have groveled. The little ferret."   
  
"Hermione. What happened? Tell us the truth. Don't you think Pia deserves to know?" Cassie heard the barely suppressed frustration in Ginny's voice and wondered why Hermione wasn't being more forthcoming. Then she saw Hermione glance over at Ron and something clicked. Hermione didn't want to admit what had happened in front of her boyfriend. Probably not for her own sake, but for his. Ron was staring at her with narrowed eyes, like he was hoping to read the answer in her brain.   
  
"Okay, okay. If it's that important. I'm telling you, though, it wasn't that big of a deal."  
  
"It's a big deal now."   
  
"What are you talking about?"   
  
"The entire school now thinks Cassie and Draco are an item, because of what happened yesterday. Now spill!" Hermione's mouth literally dropped open and she stared at all four of them with a growing dread in her eyes.   
  
"Let's go into a room where we can put a silencing charm on the door. It's too public out here." The four of them retreated into a small private room to the side of a rack of some very dusty looking tomes and the door was sealed and the silencing charm cast before Hermione started sputtering her explanation. "It was during Runes. We were partners, remember?" Everyone nodded. "He sat too close to me on the bench and his arm kept brushing me in a place that girls normally don't let strangers touch them." Hermione flushed. Ron's expression was set and stony. Harry was also looking extremely angry, although Cassie couldn't figure out why. "I finally told him to get away from me. I could have done something else, but I was trying to act like . . .Pia would, you know. It was hard."   
  
"Was that it?" Cassie asked.   
  
"Um, no, actually." Hermione stood up and started pacing. "After a few minutes he was over by me again. Then he put his hand on my back. Very low on my back. Very low." Cassie stared at Hermione. Draco had touch her on the butt, obviously. Ron had just worked this out, too, and Cassie swore that steam was starting to curl up from his ears. "I pulled my wand on him and put the tip of it against his elbow. I did a 'dysesthesia' charm and believe me, he knew it."   
  
"What does that do?" That was a word Cassie was sure she'd never heard before.  
  
"It makes you go numb. Like your arm's asleep or something." Ginny quickly informed her. Hermione was twisting her hands together.   
  
"I told him that I'd aim it at a certain spot and make it permanent if he didn't get his hands off me. He moved his hand, but I don't think he really thought I would do it."   
  
"I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill him!"  
  
"Ron . . . you can't! I mean . . . he was really touching Cassie, not me, remember?" She sounded near to panic. Cassie wondered rather nastily if her honor wasn't worth having Ron kill Malfoy over. She wouldn't complain.   
  
"Then Harry can murder him! No, I know. We'll both do it." And he marched over to the door like he was about to head out and begin the murdering without another moment's delay. Hermione grabbed his arm, stopping his progress. Harry pulled out his wand to unseal the door, obviously thinking that Ron had a pretty good idea. Ginny glanced over at him briefly and he stopped when she spoke.   
  
"Is that really it? Or did something more happen?" Hermione shook her head, but at the look in Ginny's eyes, she confessed.  
  
"He did it again, later in the class. He scooted over, grabbed me, and, uh, pinched me. I used my wand, put it against his leg and did the spell. He said I should be careful, as I wouldn't want to damage anything permanently. Like I was thinking about . . . well. I think you get the general idea. And then class was over and he . . . left."   
  
"Oh, my God!" Cassie sat down against the wall and buried her face in her hands, unsure whether to cry or laugh. "And I told him that it hadn't been that bad. No wonder he smirked. No wonder he thinks we're an item. He's got such an over-inflated ego that he probably thinks I'd marry him tomorrow if he asked." All five of them sat there for a long moment in silence broken only by Ron's harsh breathing.   
  
Hermione's voice was soft when she finally spoke. "I'm sorry. I should have told you right away, but I was . . . embarrassed. Embarrassed that I hadn't done anything. I never dreamed he would have ever brought it up to you again. Especially not in public." She was near to tears, obviously and Cassie felt bad for her.   
  
"It's okay, Hermione. We'll figure something out. You couldn't have known this would happen." Cassie thought about her happy mood this morning and it was just a distant memory. Today was turning into a disaster.


	35. The Wager

Chapter 35  
The Wager  
  
After a few minutes, they all stirred and by almost unspoken agreement looked at their watches. "Class" both Ginny and Hermione said simultaneously. Ron rolled his eyes and Cassie just leaned her head back against the wall.   
  
"At least it's Herbology. No Malfoy git there. Then we've got Quidditch practice this afternoon." Ginny looked at Hermione and Cassie. "Are you two going to be all right? Alone?"   
  
"Of course." Hermione looked slightly affronted. "I can handle Malfoy myself. I would have done something different yesterday except that I didn't want to, uh, give away the game, so to speak."   
  
"We understand." Harry was quick to point out. " It's just that if he had friends or something, it would be a lot to handle."  
  
"I think we'll probably avoid the library this afternoon, though." Hermione said, and Cassie breathed a sigh of relief. "We'll study in the common room. I'm sure Pia won't complain." Cassie just shook her head.   
  
"I hate the idea of that idiot making us feel frightened to walk around the halls of the school, though. It's like letting him win, or something."   
  
"Think of it as . . . living to fight another day." Harry said, smiling down at the two of them as he stood and picked up his bag. "When all of us are together, it wouldn't be any trouble to take on anything the entire house of Slytherin could throw at us." They all laughed at the confidence in his voice, but Cassie somehow suspected he wasn't exaggerating. After all, Harry had fought Voldemort and she had seen with her own eyes the power that took. Draco Malfoy wouldn't stand a chance. Which is probably why, now that she thought about it, he tended to try to get her alone. This morning was a prime example. It was just she and Ginny right there before Potions, right outside of Professor Snape's classroom no less where Ginny could hardly start hexing the idiot. The Potions Master was not very fair when it came to awarding detentions. She had seen that with her own eyes as well.   
  
"I'm sorry everyone. I really blew it this morning." She said it. The thing that was bothering her the most. If she hadn't been so anxious to get into class . . . and the reason she had been so anxious was because she really did not want detention. She was walking on eggshells right now, more than she had before, because she was terrified that something would stop her from going into Hogsmeade tomorrow. And, she admitted to herself even though she couldn't say it to anyone else, if that happened, she would just want to curl up and die. Not that she thought Professor Snape would have her in detention with him. Class today had proven what she already suspected. But he could assign her detention with another professor or even Filch or even Hagrid, she gathered from stories that some of the other students had told her. So, because she wanted to go to Hogsmeade to see George she had been hasty about getting away from Malfoy, she had agreed with whatever he said, knowing that it was stupid. And she had caused no end of trouble.   
  
"No reason to apologize." Ginny helped her stand up. "You couldn't have known. And Hermione, the same goes for you. Let's not spend time and energy wishing we could change what has already happened. We just need to move on from here. Come on, Pia. The big bad plants are waiting for us." They all laughed and exited the little room, spreading out to go to their various classes.   
  
Herbology was surprisingly enjoyable and Cassie was almost sad when it ended. Now that she had adjusted her thinking to deal with biting plants, it wasn't as overwhelmingly terrifying in the greenhouses as it had been that first day. Neville had been a lot of fun this afternoon, also, and he had all of their group cracking up at some of his jokes. She and Ginny were both still giggling over a particularly accurate impersonation of Professor Snape as they walked back to the castle an hour later. Even Saffron had been fun this afternoon, seemingly relaxing from her need to control everyone around her, and teasing and joking with the rest of them. Cassie knew that she heard the word "Hogsmeade" tossed around in almost everyone's conversation and it was as though the entire student body was preparing itself for a big party the next day. She commented as much to Ginny as they were climbing the steps up to the common room.   
  
"Well, you're right. It's a really fun place and this visit right before Christmas is always particularly exciting. Everyone finishes up their Christmas shopping and there's a lot of joking around and throwing snowballs and everything." At the mention of Christmas shopping, Cassie stopped smiling. She wasn't sure what to do about buying gifts. There may be some fun stuff to buy in the wizarding village but she would have no idea what to buy or what everyone she wanted to get presents for would want.   
  
"Would you help me buy presents tomorrow?"  
  
"No. Sorry." Cassie looked at Ginny in surprise.   
  
"Why not? Won't I be able to buy things?" Cassie was genuinely confused and wondered if as a Muggle she would be unable to see or purchase the things in the stores.   
  
"Yeah, you'll be able to buy things . . . I just don't think you're going to want my help."   
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I think a certain brother of mine is going to be monopolizing all your time. If you want help with Christmas shopping, you'd better ask him." They both giggled and Cassie's heart began to race as she realized that it was now Friday afternoon and that it was now just about 18 hours or so before she actually saw George again.   
  
"I'll need to buy him a present, though. He can't help me with that."   
  
"Oh, he's never been shy letting me know what he wants for Christmas. He'll be the same with you, I'm sure. Once you've decided what to get him, I'll help you buy it."  
  
"Thanks." This short conversation had drawn Cassie's mind back to her hiding place. "Have you thought of any other options for where they are going to hide me after next week, Ginny?"   
  
"Um, well . . . Harry thought maybe in Hogsmeade. That would make sense. No one would ever look for you there and there's somewhere outside of town that is perfectly safe and no one knows about it. Okay, hardly anyone."   
  
"What sort of a place is that?"   
  
"It's called the Shrieking Shack."   
  
"The Shrieking Shack! It sounds dreadful! What is it?" But Ginny never answered her because then they were at the portrait of the Fat Lady and there were a lot of other students standing outside in the hall visiting and they had to stop talking. Cassie waited in the common room for Hermione after Ginny had met up with Ron and Harry and left for Quidditch practice. There were lots of students in there this afternoon, all talking and laughing, and Cassie thought it was highly unlikely that Hermione would be able to get much studying done. She intended to relax this afternoon. She would do her homework on Sunday. Now she would write a letter home to her parents and maybe take a nap. It had been a long week and she was exhausted.   
  
It was almost 45 minutes before Hermione slipped through the portrait hole, a huge pile of books held in front of her. Cassie roused herself and went over to help her. "What's all this, Hermione?" She pulled the top several books off the pile, helping Hermione stack them on a nearby table.   
  
"I have an essay due next Friday in my Arithmancy class and I wanted to get started on it. So, I had to go get some materials from the library." Cassie cast a wary eye on the large pile of dusty books and realized that these were the same books Hermione had been looking at during lunch when they had interrupted her.   
  
"Isn't next Friday the last day of term?"  
  
"Yes. But Professor Vector feels the same way I do about such things. Every minute of class time is precious and shouldn't be wasted in light-hearted celebrations. When holidays start, they start. We shouldn't waste two weeks of class getting ready for them."   
  
"Ah. I see." Cassie shook her head slightly. She had no idea how Hermione and Ron ever got along. Two more opposite personalities could not possibly exist. Ron had just been telling Harry not even an hour ago that in his opinion it should be illegal for teachers to assign homework the last week of term. "It takes a while to get into the proper holiday mood and we get such a short break, anyway. It would be kind of a nice beginning to the season. It's not like anyone does any assigned homework that week anyway. They should just make it official." Harry had agreed with him, although Cassie had noticed a very slight eye-rolling movement as he followed his friend out the portrait hole, Ginny following behind the other two.   
  
The afternoon passed in quiet relaxation for Cassie, although she noticed that Hermione was working pretty hard. She wrote a letter home to her parents, replying to the one that Remus had given her that morning. She sat and contemplated her wardrobe for the next day for a while. And she also made a list of everyone she needed to buy Christmas presents for this year and decided how much money she could spend on everyone. She supposed that her parents could give her some extra money. She had a much longer list this year than she had ever had before and she had no idea what sort of gifts would be appropriate for her wizard and witch friends. She would speak to Remus about getting money from home and wished with some frustration that she had thought of this earlier. She didn't have much money for tomorrow and doubted that the credit card she had tucked at the bottom of her trunk for emergencies would do her much good.   
  
The dinner hour finally arrived and Harry, Ron, and Ginny came back from Quidditch practice, looking cold and muddy, but happy. Cassie and Hermione waited for them to come back down from their showers and Cassie about jumped out of her skin when she heard growling behind her. She whirled, staring at the books still piled on the table. One of them was wiggling and there was a distinct noise coming from it. Hermione seemed unfazed, continuing to visit with a fourth-year girl who had approached earlier with some question or another. As Cassie stared at the pile, the book shifted out of the pile and the growling noise got louder. "Hermione?" She asked quietly, but the girl didn't answer. The book was getting more and more aggressive, and Cassie backed away from the table as casually as she could. "Hermione?" Still no reply. The book was now scuttling across the table on unseen feet, growling as it reached the edge near Cassie. She didn't know what else to do. She pulled her wand and pointed it at the book. At the same time, she grabbed the heaviest looking book out of the rest of the pile and threw it on top of the wiggling growling tome, effectively pinning it. "Hermione! I could use some help here."   
  
"What, Pia?" She turned finally, looking frustrated at having her conversation interrupted.   
  
"The book . . . growling and wiggling and . . ."   
  
Hermione laughed. "You seem to have things under control." She raised her eyebrow in question at Cassie's wand pointed at the book. Cassie blushed and tucked the wand back into her sleeve.   
  
"Didn't think it could hurt." Hermione picked up the now-quiet book and tucked it into the pile again.   
  
"It's just getting a little bored, I suppose. Must be boring for a book to be stuck in the restricted section."   
  
"Yes. I can only imagine." She thought maybe Hermione was joking, but her face was serious. Cassie wanted to say more, but Ginny bounced down the stairs at that moment, and a few minutes later they were all headed down for dinner.   
  
It was a rather uncomfortable meal. Cassie felt that everyone in the entire hall was staring at her and she knew she felt Draco's eyes on her as well. She wanted to stand up and shout out to everyone that there had just been a big misunderstanding, but of course she couldn't. So, she just ate as quickly as possible, hoping to escape from the Great Hall early. Everyone else seemed to sense her unease and it was in almost record time that the five of them were finished and stood up to leave. Cassie felt as much as heard the snickers and whispers behind her back from the Slytherin side of the hall and wished she knew what Draco was telling them in the common room. She was pretty sure it was not complimentary to her. She mentioned as much to Ginny as they climbed.   
  
"Yeah. I agree. I'm sure he's spreading all sorts of rumors about you. The git. Honestly, I don't understand why he is so obsessed."  
  
"Neither do I. If it wouldn't get me killed, I'd tell him I'm a Muggle. That would turn him off completely."   
  
"No kidding."   
  
The evening passed with excruciating slowness for Cassie. She could hardly wait to go to bed, knowing that sleep would make the hours before Hogsmeade fly by. By 8, she was seriously tempted to go up and at least lay down. Maybe she would be able to sleep early, which would help time go even more quickly. However, she knew that after her nap on the couch this afternoon, it was unlikely she could sleep. And it was more fun down here in the common room watching everyone play various wizarding games than it would be lying upstairs sleepless on the bed. So she forced herself to wait for a few more hours. About 10, when she was thinking happily that it was down to only twelve more hours, Harry stood up from his chess game with Ron. A meaningful look passed between Harry and Ron and Cassie's brows drew together. What were they up to?  
  
"I think I'll go up to bed. I'm exhausted."   
  
"Good idea, Harry. I'll be up there soon to join you." But Ron made no move toward the staircase. Instead, he took Hermione's hand. "Fancy a walk?"   
  
"At this hour? Are you mental?" But she was smiling broadly and they walked together over to the portrait hole. A few minutes later, Ron pushed the portrait open and slipped through. Hermione hesitated, looking at her boyfriend standing outside in the hall. "We could get detention, Ron. Maybe we should really stay here."   
  
"You're probably right." He climbed back through and the portrait closed behind him. They held hands for a few minutes, standing there, before they settled on the couch, arms around each other. Cassie watched out of the corner of her eye. Ginny was visiting with Rhiannon and seemed to be ignoring Ron and Hermione completely. Cassie suspected that something else was going on, but she couldn't figure out what. She finally roused herself from the game of Exploding Snap she had been pretending to watch and walked over to the group of chairs and couches by the fire. She sat down in one and glanced down at her watch. It was now 10:20 and she was starting to feel tired. Ginny joined her a few minutes later.   
  
"Are you about ready to go upstairs?"   
  
"Yeah. I thought I'd shower tonight and braid my hair. Do you want me to do yours, also? For tomorrow?" Ginny thought for a minute.   
  
"That would be fantastic. Thanks." But no one moved to go upstairs and Cassie shrugged to herself. Even if no one else went up, by 11, she would go. She didn't want to have dark circles under her eyes when she saw George again. After all, she had a rather nasty shock for him, and it would help if she looked as good as possible when telling him the bad news. She stared into the fire for what seemed like forever. Hermione finally glanced at her watch and muttered something to Ron. He stood up.   
  
"Do you hear strange noises out in the hall, Hermione?"   
  
"Now that you mention it, it does sound like there's a commotion." Cassie drew her brows together. She couldn't hear anything.   
  
"Maybe you should check it out, Ron." Ginny offered and Ron pulled his wand, looking determined. He walked over to the portrait hole and pushed the picture open from behind. He stood for a moment staring out into the emptiness before he closed it again.   
  
"I don't hear anything now."  
  
"No, neither do I." Cassie didn't know what they were up to, but their acting skills really stunk. She almost laughed, but bit her lip instead. No one else in the common room seemed to think anything unusual was going on. She wasn't going to draw attention to the little melodrama. So she just shook her head briefly and concentrated again on watching the flames. Just as she had finally decided that she was going to have to go up to bed alone, Harry came back down the steps and walked over to join them.   
  
"I couldn't sleep. You never came up, Ron." His voice was only mildly accusing.   
  
"Sorry. I got involved talking to Hermione." Harry winked and Cassie realized that he had not been trying to sleep at all. He was still fully dressed and his hair was just as rumpled as ever, but not more like it would have been if he had been tossing and turning on his bed for an hour. Harry sat down in his usual chair and drew Ginny down onto his lap.   
  
"I didn't have any trouble at all. But, I have to tell you that it's worse than we imagined." Cassie was puzzled. What was he talking about? "He's telling all sorts of lies about her. And he's got an extremely foul wager in place that was the main topic of discussion tonight."   
  
"What's going on, Harry?" He looked around to make sure no one else was standing nearby and answered her in a low voice.   
  
"I've just come back from an excursion into the heart of enemy territory - the Slytherin common room." Cassie was about to question his sanity when all the pieces suddenly clicked. He had gone out in his invisibility cloak and Ron and Hermione had been putting on a rather bad act so that he could leave and return through the hole without the Fat Lady knowing he was out of the dorm. Indeed, if she were questioned, she would undoubtedly testify that no one had come or gone that evening except for one Ron Weasley, who had changed his mind almost immediately. Good plan. Bad acting but a good plan.   
  
"Why would you do that?"  
  
"We decided that it was important to know what Malfoy is saying about you. We thought it a distant possibility that he had somehow figured things out and was just toying with you until tomorrow when you'd be out of the castle and relatively unprotected." Cassie blanched.   
  
"And it's worse than you thought?" What could be worse than this?   
  
"The crudity of the rumors he is spreading about you is worse than we imagined. But no worries about the other. He is absolutely convinced you are a pure-blood witch, and he fancies the two of you having a rather torrid love affair once school is over."  
  
"He's completely off his nut."   
  
"No kidding. Not that this comes as a surprise." Cassie waited to hear the rest, but Harry didn't say anything else.   
  
"Well, do I get to hear the rest?"   
  
"What?"   
  
"The rumors? The wager? The whole thing."   
  
Harry's face turned bright red.. "No. I don't think so."   
  
"Are you going to tell everyone else?"  
  
"Um, I was planning on it."   
  
"So they get to know, but I don't? Is there some particular reason for that? And if you say it's because I'm a girl, or a . . . well, I'll hit you. Are you telling Ginny?"   
  
"Look. . . I . . . It would be really embarrassing."   
  
"I think I can handle it. My imagination is working overtime at the moment. It's probably not as bad as I'm thinking." Harry flushed a deeper color red.   
  
"Um, well . . . I think it's probably worse."   
  
Hermione clicked her tongue. "She deserves to know, Harry. After all, it's her that he's talking about." Harry grimaced.   
  
"Okay. But don't say I didn't warn you." He paused a moment, collecting his thoughts, Cassie guessed. "When I got in there, Draco and a group of his cronies were all huddled in a corner. I think there were about 10 of them. I don't even know all their names, but they were all fifth year and up, I think. They were talking about all sorts of things, but then one of them mentioned Hogsmeade. Draco pounced on the opening. He said, um, 'She'll be going in with me, of course. I have a whole day planned.' Crabbe laughed at that. 'I think you're having us on, Draco. She didn't seem that interested in you today.'" Ginny interrupted Harry's narrative.   
  
"Give the boy a Galleon. I didn't know he even noticed such things." Harry smiled, but it looked pained.   
  
"Then Draco said something like 'Well, she can't show it in public, can she? After all she's in Goody-Goody Gryffindor. But when it's just the two of us, she's a wildcat.'" Cassie squeaked in protest. "Anyway one of the boys I don't know said something to the effect of, 'I don't believe you, Malfoy. I don't think she has it in her.'" Harry stared at the fire for a minute. "Then Draco said that you're, um, actually begging for it." Cassie wasn't sure what he meant. Certainly not what first came to mind.   
  
"Do you mean he's telling them all that I want to . . . to . . ." She couldn't bring herself to finish the question.   
  
"Yeah. That's what he means. And like I said, he's got a pool going on where they can place bets on how long before he actually, uh, gets you alone in the Astronomy tower." Cassie blanched.   
  
"How would they know whether he's telling the truth? He's obviously delusional. He's got a whole fantasy world cooked up where I'm the main star."   
  
"Apparently they all have the same thought. After all, if they're coughing up good money, they want proof of what happened and when. And that brings us to the second wager of the evening."   
  
"You mean there's more?"   
  
"'Fraid so. Anyway, from what I can tell there's been a bet on in the house for quite a few days regarding the color and style of . . . um . . . well . . ." Harry's voice trailed off.   
  
"What? Don't leave us hanging here." Harry glared at Ron.   
  
"What she wears under her clothes, all right?" He scowled and folded his arms. Ron now looked as confused as Cassie felt.   
  
"Do you mean her uniform?"  
  
"Under that."   
  
"You mean . . . her knickers?!" He practically yelped this and the few students left downstairs in the common room turned to look at their corner. Harry just nodded furiously. Cassie flushed bright red and stared at the carpet. How absolutely humiliating!   
  
"Please, Harry. For the love of all that's holy, tell me you're having me on."   
  
"Sorry. It's true. There's a whole list of possibilities with odds on each one. I saw the list." Cassie thought she would just prefer to die rather than face all those Slytherin boys across the Great Hall tomorrow at breakfast. "Anyway, the point is that they are counting on Draco to bring them back a pair of the . . . items so that they can settle the bet."   
  
"And I suppose he has told them that he'll be collecting them personally as a souvenir of our time together?"   
  
"That's about the gist of it."   
  
"I think I'm going to throw up. Maybe I'll use one of those Puking Pastilles tomorrow when he's standing next to me and I'll aim carefully. No, never mind. I don't need it. I can be ill just at the thought." Hermione and Ginny were making furious noises and Hermione stood up and started pacing.   
  
"This is getting seriously out of control. He's always been dangerous, but now his pride is in the mix. He's not just going to give up and go away. You realize that, don't you?" Harry nodded.   
  
"You're right. He's definitely dangerous. Maybe you should stay here tomorrow rather than go into town." Cassie felt all the color drain out of her face. She looked at Ginny for support. Ginny caught her eye.   
  
"Harry. I don't think that's fair. Pia's really been looking forward to seeing Hogsmeade. There's no reason she needs to stay here. We'll just keep her away from Malfoy tomorrow." Harry considered his girlfriend.   
  
"I don't like it. But you're right. It's not fair to punish her for his creepiness. Maybe I'll get a portkey made so she can immediately get back here if she's threatened at all."   
  
"That's an option. Good idea. You work on that. Meanwhile, I'm taking Pia up to bed. She looks like she's about to collapse." And truthfully, Cassie thought, she felt like it. Her emotions had been running so high and then to have her Hogsmeade trip almost pulled out from under her, along with the other shocks from this evening. It was too much. Twenty minutes later, she was tucked into her bed, a million thoughts running through her head and she tried to focus on the idea that tomorrow she would see George. Ginny had convinced her to shower and braid her hair in the morning. "We'll have plenty of time. We're not supposed to meet them until 10."   
  
"Do you think I'm stupid to risk going into town tomorrow?" Cassie asked quietly before they drew their curtains shut.   
  
"No. Don't worry about it. If Harry knew you were going to be with George, he wouldn't even bother with the portkey. Fred and George act like goofballs most of the time, but believe me, George could protect you against any threat Malfoy and his goons could launch. He's a very powerful wizard. Harry's said that several times. He fights with the twins a lot and he's impressed with their skill."   
  
"Ah. Okay."   
  
"Maybe you should tell Harry about your plans."  
  
"No. I don't want him to know. And promise me you won't tell him either, okay?"   
  
"I already told you I wouldn't . . .but he may figure things out when he sees the two of you together."   
  
"Maybe." Cassie thought this was unlikely. But that wasn't her biggest worry. Her biggest worry at this moment was what Ginny had just said. George was a very powerful wizard. And that meant he probably would want even less to do with her than she had previously imagined. Wonderful. She groaned and rolled over. Tomorrow would bring an end to the little world of dreams she had constructed for herself and a certain Weasley twin. Maybe in her way, she was just as delusional as Draco Malfoy. She closed the curtains, staring into the darkness for a long time before she finally fell asleep.


	36. Hogsmeade

Chapter 36  
Hogsmeade  
  
Cassie opened her eyes suddenly as if something had woken her. But she lay in bed for a long moment and heard nothing strange. She stared into the darkness for a few minutes before she decided she would have to risk looking at her watch. She pulled the torch out from under her mattress again. 5:30! It was way too early to get up, especially if she considered that she hadn't fallen asleep until almost midnight. She rolled over, pulling the covers tighter around her. After a few minutes, though, she conceded to herself that the butterflies were not going to settle down. "I'm as bad as a kid on Christmas morning," she muttered to herself. She sat up and pushed the curtains open, looking around at all the other beds. Everyone else was obviously smart enough to still be sleeping. She stood up, cringing at the cold of the floor against her feet. She hurriedly stepped into her slippers and grabbed her bathrobe from the hook next to her bed. She went to the bathroom first, thinking that this may have been what woke her up. But when she returned to her room, the thought of getting back into bed was not enticing. So, instead, she grabbed her top blanket and started down the steps that led to the common room. At the bottom of the steps, she looked around cautiously. The room was completely quiet and still so she crossed over to what she now thought of as "their couch" and curled up in the corner. The fire was low, but the warmth covered her as surely as the blanket did and she stared into the barely flickering flames, hoping that she might drift off and get another hour or two of rest.   
  
It was almost 7:00 when she finally stirred. She hadn't really slept but she had been in that sort of near-sleep trance that she always found extremely refreshing. As she climbed the steep steps back up to the dorm room, she allowed the butterflies full reign. Three hours. That was all before she would see George again, assuming everything went right. But she wasn't going to think about the possibility that they wouldn't. He was going to be there, she was going to be there, and whatever happened after that - well, she'd have to wait and find out.   
  
She opened Ginny's curtains carefully but Ginny was definitely still asleep. "Ginny. Wake up. We need to get up."   
  
"Five more minutes, Mum, please," and she rolled over, pulling the covers over her head. Cassie felt really bad but she decided that she really did need to get Ginny up so they could start getting ready for the day. If they had showered and done their hair the night before, they could have slept later, but as it was, she imagined the showers were going to be crowded.   
  
"Ginny. Wake up. Ginny." She shook her gently and this time, the redhead's eyes popped open, looking slightly unfocused and dazed.   
  
"Pia? Is something wrong?"   
  
"No. It's 7 though and I thought we would want to get in the showers." Ginny squinted and looked over at her clock.   
  
"You seem kind of awake for this hour of the morning." It wasn't really a question and Cassie fought down the urge to laugh at the sullen undertones in Ginny's voice. She had been waking Cassie up by this time every morning for a week but when the shoe was on the other foot . . . .  
  
"Come on, Ginny. Wake up. I'm going to need a lot of time to get ready."   
  
"Fine. Fine. I don't think he'd care if you went looking like that." Cassie laughed happily and Ginny suddenly shot her a teasing look. "Or went wearing nothing at all."   
  
Cassie blushed furiously and stammered, "We . . . we don't have that sort of a relationship."   
  
"I know, I know. I'm just teasing you." She sat up and blew out a quick puff of air. "Let's go. Are you still going to braid my hair?" Cassie nodded and 10 minutes later the girls were standing in the warmth of the bathroom but all the showers were already occupied. Cassie glanced down at her watch, feeling some anxiety as to the time. "Relax, Pia. We've got plenty of time." Cassie took a deep breath and tried to relax. Plenty of time. Yeah. Plenty of time. It didn't help. Ginny shooed her into the first open shower and by the time she got out a few minutes later, Ginny had obviously found an open one herself. Cassie crossed to a mirror and started combing out her hair, trying to decide what to wear that day. She had a limited selection as most of her trunk space had been filled with school robes and uniforms. So there really were very few options. She had two pairs of jeans and three shirts along with two jumpers. She briefly toyed with the idea of wearing the one skirt she had brought that was not her uniform but discarded it. She wanted to wear tennis shoes as she got the impression it was a pretty decent hike to the town and she was positive that the cold snowy roads would not be easy going. Ginny emerged from her shower at that point and joined Cassie at the mirror, starting to work through her own hair with a brush.   
  
"What are you going to wear today, Ginny?"   
  
"Oh, jeans and a jumper, I guess. Nothing too exciting. What about you?"   
  
"Same, I think. I've got a blue jumper than I think will look nice. I . . . What do we do to keep warm on the walk over there?" It suddenly dawned on Cassie that she had no winter coat or jacket to keep out the cold.   
  
"Winter robes. They'll be warm enough."   
  
"Oh."   
  
"But don't worry. They can be shrunken and tucked into a purse or pocket if you don't want to keep them on in town. Most people do leave them on, but keep them open."   
  
Cassie was ready to braid her hair and started working it into the braids that Harry had liked earlier and that she hoped George thought were pretty. When she was done, Ginny conjured up a ribbon from somewhere and the two of them wove it into the end of the braid to add a bit more color to the style. "Do you think he'll like my hair red?" Cassie asked quietly as she started on Ginny's braid.  
  
"Sure. It's barely red. Besides, it's not like he's not used to red hair on people." By then, the room was extremely crowded so Cassie didn't ask any more, just worked on finishing up Ginny's hair so they could retreat to the quiet of the bedroom. They both applied their makeup quickly and left the steamy bathroom as soon as they could. All three of their dorm-mates were up. Rhiannon was sitting on her bed looking like she was trying to decide whether it was worth it to actually get up and Elspeth was standing in front of her trunk, looking into it with a fairly panicked expression. They had seen Saffron just a few seconds before standing in line for the showers, so Cassie knew it would be a while before she was back up here. When Ginny and Cassie entered the room, Elspeth turned immediately to Ginny.   
  
"I have no idea what to wear today. I'm so nervous. I want to look nice, but not make it too obvious that we're uh . . . on a date."   
  
"What choices to you have?" Ginny and Cassie looked over Elspeth's clothes as she pulled them out of the trunk. The clothes were of extremely high quality, Cassie fingering one jumper and confirming that it was cashmere, but didn't really suit the girl's coloring or her figure. Ginny made a few suggestions that Cassie privately thought were not right and Elspeth obviously agreed because she shook her head in frustration a few minutes later.   
  
"I'm not going. I'll look terrible. It's bad enough that he has to put up with grief for dating me. I should at least look nice for him."   
  
"We're about the same size, Elspeth. Why don't you try on this jumper?" Cassie pulled out the dark pink sweater that she really liked but couldn't wear now because she thought it might look stupid with her hair color. But against Elspeth's dark hair, it would probably look pretty nice. She couldn't help but notice the other girl's eyes light up as they saw the jumper.   
  
"Ooh. That's nice. Are you sure you wouldn't mind?"  
  
"Not at all. I'm going to wear blue. See?" And she pulled the light blue jumper out of her trunk. She liked this color because it brought out the color of her eyes. Rhiannon spoke up.   
  
"That pink will look great on you, Elspeth. I've been telling you for years that your mum has no taste in clothes. All those yellows and whites make you look washed out and sallow. You need dark colors. When is she going to let you choose your own clothes? You're 16 for Merlin's sake." Cassie could tell this was an old argument, because Elspeth just grunted in response. Cassie was just glad that other girl wasn't tormenting Elspeth for dating Colin. She didn't really want to have to listen to that again. Ginny was looking at some of Elspeth's clothes out of the corner of her eye, trying not to be too obvious in her admiration of one particular jumper.   
  
"Um, Elspeth? Would you mind if Ginny wore that jumper? If you're not going to?" Ginny flushed bright red and stared at Cassie as if she had just grown another head.   
  
"I . . . I've already decided what I'm going to wear."   
  
"I know, but Harry will like you in that one. It will look really nice on you." Elspeth handed it over to her.   
  
"She's right. All these years, I think my mum has been buying clothes for you, Ginny. She's got coloring like yours and she likes the lighter colors." The jumper was a deep ivory and against Ginny's tan, it looked fantastic. It was shot through with some sparkly stuff that Cassie didn't recognize but it looked nice. Ginny hesitated, and then took the jumper.   
  
"I . . . Thanks. But that means the ribbon won't match." The girls had woven yellow ribbon through Ginny's hair as she thought that was what she was going to wear today. Cassie smiled.  
  
"That's no problem. We are witches after all." And a few seconds later, Elspeth had changed the ribbon's color to match the elegant jumper because Cassie was fumbling around, trying to get her wand out of her toiletry bag and the other two had gotten impatient.   
  
"I love your hair, Pia and Ginny. Who did it?" Elspeth was looking with interest at their braids.   
  
"Me. I'll do yours if you want."   
  
"Ooh. I'd love it. Thank you." Cassie had Elspeth sit on the floor and she sat behind her on the bed. They were still talking and laughing when Saffron came in, looking rosy from the steamy heat of the shower. She looked at the other girls and smiled.   
  
"You'd think you three had dates or something. You all look great." She went to her bed and started pulling clothes out of her trunk. The outfit she laid out was beautiful and Cassie told her as much.   
  
"Thanks. I'm hoping to catch someone's eye today myself." But despite repeated questioning, she wouldn't say which boy in particular she hoped to attract. Rhiannon was looking pouty but in a playful way.   
  
"So, everyone has someone to look nice for but me. Maybe I should just stay here and study." Everyone teased her gently about her crush on a boy from Hufflepuff that Cassie couldn't remember ever meeting but she joined in the teasing, too. But then she felt like she had better clear up a misunderstanding that seemed to be gaining momentum as the morning progressed.   
  
"I don't have a date or anything, you know, girls. I'm just going to be hanging out with Ginny and Hermione and of course Ron and Harry." Saffron flashed her a disbelieving grin, eyebrow raised.   
  
"Right, right. So where are you meeting him?" Cassie was genuinely confused now and looked with questions in her eyes at Ginny.  
  
"Who . . . do you think I'm meeting?"   
  
"We all know, Pia. You just can't keep secrets around here. But if you want to keep playing your game, we'll go along with it."   
  
Oh, dear. Cassie thought for a moment and then decided maybe it would be better to explain before any rumors about her and George started circulating in the general school population. She finished Elspeth's hair and stood up. "I should explain . . . you see, we're just good friends and I . . ."  
  
"I don't think he wants to be friends with you. At least that's not what I heard."   
  
"But how did you hear about this?" Cassie wondered if she had left an incriminating note or letter out where it could have been found, or maybe muttered George's name in her sleep.   
  
"It's all over Slytherin house. Almost everyone is taking bets on one thing or another."   
  
It suddenly dawned on Cassie that they were talking at cross-purposes. Saffron assumed she was meeting Draco. Gag. And she thought that Cassie was just playing games when she protested. "Do you think I'm going with Draco today?" Saffron looked at her again with that supremely confident, questioning expression.  
  
"Yeah. I don't know who else you would be dating."  
  
"I'm not dating anyone. I'm certainly not dating Draco Malfoy. I can't stand the little worm. And you'd feel the same if he was making bets about you!"   
  
"Yeah. Right. Me thinks she doth protest too much. I don't know what you would have against him. He's rich, older, extremely good looking. . . Good breeding . . . he's got it all, honey."   
  
"Look, Saffron, I've told you this 100 times. I don't like him. I don't care if he's rich and has good . . . breeding. I'm not in the market for a race horse. He may be good looking but I don't care." Saffron didn't reply, just started pulling on her jeans. "His father is a Death Eater . . . does that mean anything to your little brain? Death Eater. Bad guy. Very bad. Wants to kill me . . . Ginny, and Harry Potter. Probably you, too." Saffron just looked at her.   
  
"He doesn't want to kill me, or anyone in this room, probably." She glanced over at Rhiannon, who was studying her bedspread with extreme concentration. "Besides. That's his dad. Not him. He's not marked."   
  
"She's right about that." Elspeth chimed in. Cassie glared at her.   
  
"Don't defend him. He'd undoubtedly put Colin and his family high on the list of potential targets. I just don't understand the logic, or lack thereof, you people seem to govern your lives by. Does morality mean nothing to you? His father is a cold-blooded murderer who works for yet another cold-blooded murderer. And you can blabber all you want about how that's Lucius and not Draco, but I don't exactly see him out there dismissing everything his father stands for. As far as I can tell, he's not marked because he's too young. And that's the only reason." Cassie was kind of faking it at the end. She had no clue what they meant about marking, but since Draco seemed to be a carbon copy of his father, she thought if he could have been marked he probably would have been. She grabbed her jeans and pulled them on, zipping the front angrily and then swearing under her breath as she snagged a fingernail and broke it. There was complete silence in the room, all of them tense, dressing quickly like they couldn't wait to get away from each other. Cassie looked at her watch. It was almost 8:30. Time for breakfast. Thank heavens.  
  
It was Rhiannon who broke the silence. "If you weren't talking about Draco, then, who were you talking about? The good friends thing?" Cassie stared at her with wide eyes and thought fast.   
  
"Um . . . I've heard some rumors about Neville and me. But they're totally ridiculous. We're just friends . . . in Herbology. I assumed that's who Saffron meant since we have the class together and things."   
  
"You and Neville? I haven't heard anything about that."  
  
"Well, good. Because they're not true. Not at all. We're just friends. I mean . . . he's cute enough, in a sort of cuddly teddy-bear like way, but . . . he's not my type at all." Ginny forced a laugh and Cassie closed her eyes in gratitude at the interruption.   
  
"Neville does think you're cute, though. Maybe he's starting the rumors himself." Everyone laughed and some of the tension dissipated. Ten minutes later she and Ginny started down the steps, Ginny smoothing the ivory jumper nervously over her hips. "This is so fancy, Pia. What if I spill something on it?"  
  
"Magic. You can clean it using magic. Don't worry. Didn't she say she'd never even worn it once?"  
  
"Yes . . . but it must have cost a fortune. I don't even know what it's made of."   
  
"It's fancy, all right. Don't worry about it, though. You look fantastic." They entered the common room and Harry was standing there waiting for them. He smiled at Cassie but then saw Ginny and Cassie could have burst into flames like a Phoenix right then and Harry wouldn't have noticed. He only had eyes for his girlfriend.   
  
Both Ron and Hermione had to call his name to get him to come back to reality. "Uh, Harry. Are we ready for breakfast?" No reply. Ginny was blushing furiously under Harry's gaze. "Um, Harry. Stop ogling my little sister." Still no reply and all three of those not involved in the tableau grinned at each other. "Harry! Voldemort's just broken into the castle! We better hurry to set up a defense!"   
  
This time he answered, "Okay, okay. Just a minute." He never took his eyes from Ginny, though.   
  
Ron shook his head sadly. "Poor boy. Falling head over heels for the Weasley charm." Hermione snorted, but Cassie just grinned at her. She may protest, but Cassie knew she had fallen for Ron hard. And it wasn't like she could protest either. She had fallen for it herself.   
  
"Harry! Let's go eat. Or we're never going to get to Hogsmeade!" This time, Harry turned.   
  
"Uh, yeah. Sorry." He took Ginny's hand tightly and they slid through the portrait hole and walked down the steps to the Great Hall. Breakfast was uneventful and Cassie personally thought everything tasted like sawdust. Her stomach was in knots and she couldn't decide whether it was from excitement or dread. She was really thrilled that Saturday morning had finally arrived and that it was now just a matter of minutes before she could see George. But at the same time, she was dreading the conversation that she could no longer delay. She managed to force herself to eat a little bit, two pieces of her usual wheat toast and a glass of pumpkin juice. It was almost 9:30 by the time everyone had finished eating and stood up to leave the Great Hall. Ron and Hermione volunteered to go back up to the tower to get everyone's winter cloaks.   
  
"Plus, I've got to get my galleons. I've got big plans for that money today." Cassie gripped her small bag nervously. She had some money but not a lot. She sincerely hoped it was enough to at least have a good time today and not have to worry about every penny . . . okay, knut. Harry saw Dean and Seamus across the hall and went to tell them something or another. Ginny watched with a big smile on her face as Colin and Elspeth stood in the hall for a few minutes talking.   
  
"I think I'll go say hi. Is that all right?"   
  
"Sure. No problem. They look really cute together, don't they?" Elspeth looked good in the jumper Cassie had loaned her and Colin looked slightly shell-shocked. Cassie smiled at them across the entrance hall and stood there feeling out of place, suddenly realizing how alone she was. And it didn't pass unnoticed.   
  
"Pia." The voice was pleasant enough, smooth, and getting to be entirely too familiar. Did the boy have an alarm or something that went off when she was alone for more than five seconds? It's a wonder he hadn't started turning up in the girls' toilets.   
  
"Go away. I don't want to talk to you." She didn't even turn around to look at him. She started to walk toward Ginny, Elspeth, and Colin but his hand on her arm stopped her. She turned and fixed him with a nasty glare. "I thought I told you the other day that I don't like your touching me!" He dropped his hand.   
  
"I wanted to spend the day at Hogsmeade with you."   
  
"No way, Malfoy! I'm going to be hanging out with my friends."  
  
"Doing what? Buying candy at Honeyduke's or stupid pranks at Zonko's? Let me show you a more elegant time. Have lunch with me. I've arranged for strawberries and champagne." Cassie just shook her head.   
"No. I . . "   
  
He interrupted her. "I know for appearances sake you have to walk with them, but meet me at noon. Here." He pushed a piece of parchment into her hand. "It's a private club. My dad's a member which means my friends and I have access. We'll have a good time. I promise." Cassie wadded up the parchment and stuffed it into her pocket.   
  
"Malfoy. I am not going to . . . "  
  
"I'll see you at noon. Don't be late, okay?" And then he was gone, stepping away from her and mixing with some other Slytherins who were headed out the door, past Filch, and into the wintry sunshine. Cassie stared after him, wanting to drop the parchment on the ground and grind it into the floor, but feeling Filch's eyes on her as she stood there. She looked around for a dustbin but there wasn't one convenient. Ginny rejoined her a moment later and almost at the same time Harry returned. Ron and Hermione were there just seconds behind him and it was time to leave. Cassie decided not to tell them what had happened with Draco. They were all going to have a great time today and she didn't intend to let that little creep spoil their mood. Filch crossed their names off a long list as they walked past him. Cassie tried to catch his eye and smile, but he didn't look at her again and she shrugged. She was grateful for the warmth of her winter cloak as they stepped out into the December air and she drew its folds around her.   
  
As the five of them walked, Cassie just listened to the conversation. They were talking about various classes and people and she just didn't feel like joining in, preferring just to let it wash over and around her. It wasn't until Hermione mentioned something about Christmas that Cassie felt like jumping into the conversation. "Has anyone thought of any other places where Professor Dumbledore could want to hide me?"   
  
"What places have we already discussed?" Hermione asked.  
  
"Well, let's see. There was Grim Old Place, and Diagon Alley and then some place called the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade. That sounds really unpleasant, though."   
  
"The Shrieking Shack! Who suggested that as a possibility?" Cassie's eyes flicked to Harry and Hermione groaned. "That place is a pit. There's no way they would hide you there!"  
  
"They may have fixed it up a little. You have to admit, Hermione, no one would think of looking there." Harry seemed a bit defensive about his suggestion.   
  
"The only way to fix that place up would be to raze it to the ground. Don't you agree, Ron?"   
  
"Well, I . . ."  
  
"It's horrendous. I've spent only a few hours there and that was enough for me."   
  
"But -" Harry tried to interrupt, but Hermione was having none of that.   
  
"No. If they're going to hide you in Hogsmeade, which seems unlikely to me anyway, it would be at someplace like the Hog's Head."   
  
"The Hog's Head!" Ron looked at Hermione incredulously. "Are you mental? They wouldn't put a young girl in that place, alone! I'd be afraid to put a full-grown wizard in there. It's scary."  
  
"It's not that bad . . . but you're probably right Ron. Too dangerous. Actually, I don't suppose they could put you anywhere like a hotel or inn or anything. Too many people. And they did talk about strengthening the wards around it, which means it's already warded." They walked in silence for a little while and no one had any other suggestions.   
  
"We still have a week to get this figured out. Don't worry. We've never failed yet." Harry smiled at Cassie. "I'm sure they've got all sorts of safe houses like mine."   
  
"Yeah. Right." Cassie didn't mention that this was her biggest worry - that they'd hide her somewhere completely alone, unable to have friends or anything, for weeks at a time. It probably shouldn't be her biggest worry, but it was.   
  
"Maybe the twins will have a suggestion. After all, they're privy to Order business." Cassie looked at Ron carefully to see if he was being sarcastic, but he wasn't as far as she could tell. He glanced at her. "Did you forget we're meeting my brothers?"   
  
"No. I remembered."  
  
"You've met them, haven't you?"   
  
"Yes. I've been to their store a few times. Plus, I met them when I was at Hogwarts last June."   
  
"That's right. I'd forgotten. The whole thing about the chickens, right?" Cassie nodded, remembering how George and Fred had made their roasted chickens run up and down the length of the Gryffindor table at dinner after the battle. It had been very funny although it had made her pass on eating any of it. "Well, they're here on business today, they said, although I don't think that's quite the whole truth." Cassie felt her heart speed up a little as Ron continued. "Why would they come today? When they know that the entire town is going to be overrun with Hogwarts' students? It doesn't make sense to me. I keep thinking there must be another reason."   
  
Ginny jumped in, "Maybe they're hoping to test some new products or something. You know how they like to demonstrate in front of their target audience. It saves them a fortune on advertising. Plus, they know everyone's here shopping today. Maybe they're going to be selling something."   
  
"Maybe." Ron sounded skeptical. "But I just can't help wondering if there isn't something else going on. I wouldn't put it past them." Cassie just looked down at the road and didn't say anything. She realized that it might be a lot harder to keep this a secret than she thought it was going to be.   
  
"There's the town, Pia," Hermione suddenly said and Cassie looked up to see a cluster of shops and homes.   
  
"Oh. It's lovely."   
  
"Yes. Hogsmeade is the only entirely wizarding town in Britain. It was established in . . ."  
  
"Oh, Hermione. Pia doesn't care about any of that stuff. Stop lecturing." Hermione sniffed, but Cassie noticed that she didn't argue with Ron. She actually may have been interested on another day, but right now she was so nervous and excited that it was all she could do to remember how to walk properly. It was only a few more minutes before they were walking down the main street and Cassie was trying to see everything at once. There were so many amazing stores and interesting people walking in and out of them. But then, they were stopping outside a pub. "This is the Three Broomsticks, Pia. Come on in and have a warm butterbeer. It's even better than when it comes out of the bottle." Ron held the door for the girls and they all slipped inside, Harry bringing up the rear. It took a minute for Cassie's eyes to adjust to the lighting after the bright sunshine and she blinked, trying to see.   
  
"There they are!" Ginny said and Cassie turned her head to where Ginny was indicating. Her breath caught. He was here. (He had promised.) His face. (How could she have been afraid she wouldn't remember what he looked like?) His smile. (Had it really only been a week and a half since she had seen him smile?) He stood up and the group made its way over to the table the twins had saved for them.


	37. Into the Fire

Chapter 37  
Into the Fire  
  
Cassie was extremely flustered as she felt George's eyes on her while she crossed the room. She was certain she would trip over her own feet or run into someone or something. She wanted to reach up and touch her hair because she was certain he was staring at it, but she also didn't want to draw attention to herself and the fact that he was looking at her more than anyone else. She managed to make it to the table without humiliating herself and stared at the floor while everyone said hi to everyone else. Fred said hello to her and she glanced up. He was smiling broadly.   
  
"Sit down, sit down." Ginny took her arm and pulled her, sitting her down in a chair. George sat back down and Cassie realized that Ginny had arranged it so she was sitting right next to him. She tried not to grin too stupidly at him, but now that he was sitting right there, she couldn't stop looking at him. Ginny spoke up.   
  
"Pia, you remember Fred and George, right?"  
  
"Yes. I remember them."   
  
"It's okay if you can't tell them apart. No one can." Cassie turned to glare at her, but Ginny was just smiling. Cassie stared down at the table, embarrassed at being so openly stared at. He finally said something and she felt her heart jump as she heard his voice.   
  
"Your hair used to be . . ."  
  
"We had to change it, to make her fit in with the family better." Hermione explained and Cassie squirmed a little. They were talking about her like she was six years old and too young to have made any decisions on her own.   
  
"But I braided it, and Ginny's, too." No one said anything and Cassie realized that she probably had sounded a bit out of place, a bit defensive. She glanced up and met his eyes, embarrassed at how stupid she had sounded but he was just looking at her, completely serious.   
  
"It looks nice, the braiding . . . and the color." His eyes were fixed firmly on her face and she felt her face grow hot. She hoped he remembered why he liked her and didn't wonder what he had ever seen in her to begin with.   
  
"Thanks."   
  
"Exactly how close are we supposed to be . . . cousin-wise?" George addressed the group generally, but Cassie felt his eyes on her. She didn't know whether to hope he looked away or whether to enjoy the fact that he could not seem to stop looking at her. She decided she could not sit here and stare at the table forever. She would much prefer to be looking at him. So, she forced her gaze up and met his eyes again. They were an interesting color, close to Ginny's brown, although not quite, and she didn't look back down at the table. She much preferred to study the way he was looking at her.   
  
"Not close. We haven't really worked out the family history or anything. Just close enough to be friends." Hermione was taking charge again which, when Cassie stopped to think about it, was probably all right, as most of the cousin-thing had been her idea. She kept looking at him, his face, his hands, even the side of his arm as he leaned over to talk to Fred for a second. He was even better looking than she remembered. He was wearing wizard robes, too, although not the heavy winter ones the Hogwarts students had on. They were open at the top and she could see that his shirt was white, making his skin look dark against it. She had no idea why he would ever consider her as his girlfriend. She had never felt like such a gauche little girl before.   
  
He turned to look at her again and smiled and she felt an answering smile on her face. It seemed like it had been years since she had seen him rather than just a few days. She dragged her eyes away from him and looked around at the other people at the table. Ginny and Harry were talking quietly between themselves and Ron was gesturing animatedly with Fred. Hermione was looking directly at Cassie, though, with a rather peculiar look on her face. Cassie smiled hesitantly at her and Hermione raised an eyebrow but then smiled back and turned to join in with Ron's conversation.   
  
The noise level started swelling around them as they both just looked at each other. Cassie knew she should probably pay attention and make appropriate comments, but they were talking about things completely unrelated to her and things she did not really care about. "Anyone up for some butterbeer?" Ron asked, moving as though he was going to stand up.   
  
Everyone around the table declined so Ron said he would just get one for himself and walked over to the bar. Cassie's stomach was doing double flips and the thought of drinking anything at the moment was disgusting to her. She looked at Ginny who was holding Harry's hand and laughing and Cassie felt a spurt of envy that she got to be so openly in love with Harry while she had to sit there and pretend to have no interest in the boy, no . . . man, sitting next to her. Then she felt something against her knee. She instinctively moved it out of the way, only to feel it pressing against her again a second later. She looked down to see what it was and saw a black-clothed leg pressing against her. She looked up quickly at George, who just gave her a small secretive smile and she realized that he was doing this on purpose. He kept talking to people around the table and she bravely pushed her leg back against his. There were at least four layers of clothing separating their skin, one of them her thick winter robe and another her jeans. So it was hardly an intimate contact, but nonetheless it was the best she could do at the moment, and she enjoyed what she could get. George looked at her again for a moment and winked. She flushed and stared down at the table again, willing the color to recede from her cheeks before someone noticed.   
  
"So . . . how's Hogwarts, Pia?" Fred asked after a few more minutes.   
  
"It's fantastic, really. The classes are fun and I've met lots of nice people."  
  
"Ginny's schedule isn't killing you off?"  
  
"No. I'm managing to hold my own, I think. I did use one of your Skiving Snackboxes on Thursday, though. It worked great."  
  
"Excellent! Excellent!" Fred enthused. "Which one did you try?"  
  
"The nosebleed one - I wound up with blood all over me, really gory."   
  
"Good! Glad to know it worked a treat. So . . . what class were you skiving?"   
  
"Divination."   
  
"With Trelawney, the old bat?"   
  
"No actually, it was with Firenze. It was a good class . . . but" Cassie really didn't know what to say now as she couldn't really explain why she had had to skive off that particular class. She glanced at George, who was staring at her silently, his face pale.   
  
"I don't like the idea of your bleeding." Everyone around the table started laughing.   
  
"Sure, you don't care about the rest of us . . . the more we bleed or puke, the better. So what's so special about Pia?" George blushed at Ron's teasing tone. Ron sat back down next to Hermione and took a big drink of what Cassie assumed was butterbeer although it wasn't in the bottles she was used to seeing it in. The tankard was steaming slightly and she looked at it with interest, hoping that everyone's attention would focus on something else besides her. George's leg was still pressed against hers and she felt it bump against her knee. She looked back at him.  
  
"I'm serious." His voice was quiet, obviously meant for her ears only as the rest of the table moved on to other areas of discussion.   
  
"It was fine. It stopped immediately when I ate the light side. Plus, I think I found you a customer. She was so impressed with how well it worked that she asked for a catalog. Ron gave her one, I think." George opened his mouth to say something but before he did, he was interrupted.   
  
"Actually . . . ." Hermione spoke up loudly and everyone looked at her. She was using what Ginny and Harry called her Head Girl voice and everyone knew whatever she was going to say was serious. "Pia is having a bit of a problem at school that maybe you boys could help her with." Cassie immediately knew what Hermione was going to say and she shook her head frantically.   
  
"No. It's fine. I'd rather not discuss it."  
  
"It's not fine. It's terrible. And if anyone can figure out how to get the slimy git off your back, it's Fred and George."   
  
"Which slimy git?" "What's going on?" Both questions were asked simultaneously and Cassie wanted to crawl under the table and hide. She shook her head again, desperate that this not be brought up. It was so embarrassing to admit that someone that disgusting fancied himself in love with you.   
  
"It's nothing, really."   
  
"It's Draco Malfoy. He's been giving her nothing but grief since he first laid eyes on her. She's been telling him no every way possible, but he won't give up. It seems that he's convinced himself that she has a crush on him. And Harry overheard some things last night that told us he is not just playing games. He's dead serious. And I, at least, am worried about her." Cassie bit her lip. Ginny was nodding as Hermione finished the recitation.   
  
"Malfoy!" George was incredulous. "But . . . his father is the one trying to find you!"   
  
Cassie just nodded. This was completely humiliating. "I know."  
  
"Have you told him to get lost?"  
  
"Of course!" She looked over at Fred, who seemed to think the whole thing was a joke. "I've told him in no uncertain terms that I hate him and that I never want to see him again, but he won't believe me. I think he thinks I'm playing hard to get."   
  
"I thought Ginny was going to teach you the bat bogey hex." There was complete silence around the table as everyone absorbed the impact of that statement. Cassie realized that everyone except Ginny had assumed both George and Fred knew that she would never be able to do that hex, no matter how hard Ginny tried to teach her. She was certain that one of them would blow her secret in just a second and she hunched her shoulders, preparing for the worst.  
  
Ginny spoke up, covering for her, and Cassie was grateful. "I've been meaning to, but things have been a bit hectic around school. I haven't had a chance." Harry and Ron laughed. Hermione just raised her eyebrow again. Then she sighed loudly and grabbed Ron's mug. She took a big swallow and then put her hands on either side of her head and rubbed gently, like her head was hurting her. "Anyway," Ginny continued. "It is getting to be a big problem. He actually wanted her to come to Hogsmeade with him today. Or that's what he said last night according to Harry. But you avoided him this morning right, Pia?"   
  
"Actually, no." She pulled the wadded up piece of parchment out of her pocket and laid it on the table. "He gave me this and told me to meet him at noon here."   
  
George picked up the piece of paper and studied it for a minute, wordlessly handing it to Fred. "It's an old trick."  
  
"He must not think too much of her if he thinks she would fall for it."   
  
"I'm going to kill him, personally, rip him limb from limb."   
  
Ron jumped in after George's last comment. "I'll help. The git is humiliating her in front of all his friends and the whole school naturally knows about it."  
  
Hermione seemed much more focused than the others on the piece of parchment, which Cassie was beginning to suspect was more than just an address and map. She was sincerely hoping that neither twin had noticed what Ron was saying. To her relief, they didn't respond. Their attention, too, was firmly fixed on the crumpled parchment on the table. George spoke again. "Shall we test it?"  
  
"Of course. Maybe both of us together?" Both Fred and George waved their wands and said a word that to Cassie sounded like "Reveal" although that wasn't quite it. The parchment glowed bright blue for a second.   
  
"As we suspected . . ."  
  
"A Portkey . . ."  
  
"Probably programmed to take her there at noon whether she was touching it or not. . ."  
  
"Not the most sophisticated magic . . ."  
  
"But he probably had help."   
  
Harry jumped in this time. "Where? Where would it have taken her?" George just scowled and turned to look at Cassie. "It's a club, Harry, Pia. A private club. It's here in town but it's not something you would be able to just walk into off the street. The management doesn't ask questions . . . provided you have a membership and the money is adequate."   
  
Cassie was staring at the table, trying to imagine what would have happened if she hadn't mentioned the parchment. George's hand found hers under the table and she felt immensely reassured as he squeezed her fingers for a brief moment. Then his hand returned above the table and he picked up his wand. "Let me have the honors, please, Fred."   
  
"Of course." The paper caught fire with that always-surprising blue flame and the entire group watched as the never-activated portkey burned into ashes. Fred blew on the ashes remaining on the table and they scattered over the floor. Cassie watched one particularly large piece settle daintily like a dark snowflake onto the wooden floor and noted with satisfaction when another customer stepped on it. "So . . .both of you boys have mentioned something about Malfoy humiliating her. Out with it." Fred and George were both looking around at the group and Cassie felt all the color drain out of her face. She could not sit here while those disgusting bets were discussed. She just couldn't. She looked around for a toilet. There must be one - somewhere she could hide so that she didn't have to hear what George said in response. She stood up, thinking she would just leave the pub completely, maybe wait outside until her humiliation was over. Everyone looked up at her as she stood.   
  
"I . . . I can't . . . listen. I think I'll . . ." Ginny jumped in immediately.   
  
"Stop it, you two! That's enough! You put on a good show of being offended for Pia's sake, but I think in reality you are getting a bit of a thrill from it, yourself! It's embarrassing her and that's enough! I don't want to hear one more word about it - at least not now. She's obviously upset . . . She just found out that Malfoy had yet one more nasty trick up his sleeve. Poor thing."   
  
Ron and Harry started to protest that they were innocent of such deviousness, but they did shut up and both George and Fred stood up. "Pia, we're sorry."  
  
"We didn't realize it was that terrible for you. We don't need to know . . . "  
  
"At least not right now. We can talk about it later, okay?" George took her arm gently. Let's go over to Zonko's. The jokes there should put a smile back on your face." He looked at Fred. "You finish up here and you can meet us there in a half hour or so." He stepped away from the table, tugging Cassie along with him.   
  
"Sure. Everyone up for butterbeer now?" Fred addressed the other four students. "My treat?" Cassie vaguely heard them all answer in the affirmative as George led her through the now-crowded pub toward the front door.   
  
"George? Why are we going to Zonko's alone?"  
  
"I want to be alone with you for a while. Is that all right?" Cassie flushed. She couldn't imagine anything more right. She nodded. The cold air outside helped cool the burning on her cheeks and she looked up and down the street, following George's lead. He didn't step off the porch of the pub, though, instead leading her around the corner of the building and opening a small door. She looked at him hesitatingly, but he just smiled and gestured for her to go inside. She did and found herself in a large but crowded kitchen.   
  
"Uh . . . this doesn't look like a joke shop."   
  
He smiled broadly. "It's not. We're not really going there. It was just my excuse to get you away from everyone."   
  
"Oh."   
  
"Come on. Over here." He led her to a side of the kitchen where no little house elves were bustling about and the smell of cooking food and warming butterbeer was less prominent. There was a large fireplace here with a low fire burning in the grate. There were two armchairs off to the side and an old-fashioned sort of rag rug on the floor in front of the chairs. It looked like a cozy little place to visit and she smiled with pleasure at the thought of sitting and talking with George here. She was suddenly extremely nervous. She wanted to kiss him, desperately. And she knew he wanted to kiss her, too. She just hoped that they hadn't set themselves up for disappointment if it wasn't as perfect as they both had imagined. "I've got a present for you."   
  
"I told you not to bring me a present. I don't have anything for you."   
  
"I didn't bring it."   
  
"What?" She was very confused.   
  
"I'm taking you to it."   
  
"Taking me . . . to it?"   
  
"Yes. I've got it all planned and I made the reservations. I hope you don't mind. There's a beautiful little inn on the edge of Loch Ness with the most wonderful restaurant. They've got big viewing windows and you can look over the Loch and see Nessie when she's in the mood to play. You normally have to make reservations weeks in advance, but I begged and managed to get us a table."   
  
"I . . . I . . Loch Ness? The monster? Are you kidding?" George looked confused now.  
  
"No. I'm not kidding. Haven't you ever been there?"  
  
"Um, well, no. But you know there's really not a monster, right?" His face relaxed and he laughed.   
  
"Well, that's what the Muggles think. It's just a simple concealment charm, though. That's what's so great about this restaurant. It's purely for wizards and so you can see Nessie a lot. The charm isn't effective at the inn or on the grounds. Kids love to feed her and you can buy fish right there to toss to her."   
  
Cassie stood there, feeling rather stupid. What he was saying was just so unbelievable, but she had to focus on the immediate problem at hand. He wanted to take her far away from Hogsmeade. "I don't think I should go, George. Everyone will worry."   
  
"Fred knows about it and knows how to reach us if he needs to. You're not really a student, so they can't really expel you or anything for unauthorized travel. Besides, I should have you back in plenty of time to go back to school. No one will even notice you're gone. Our reservations are for 11 and we can probably be back by 2. Ginny knows we want to be alone. She'll just assume we're off somewhere private and Fred will encourage her to think that." That made sense, but her head was whirling and she wasn't quite sure what to do.   
  
"It sounds nice . . . but I'm not sure . . .I mean, I am in hiding."   
  
"I know. I wouldn't ever let anything happen to you. I'll take good care of you. I promise." Cassie looked up into his face and thought that anything he wanted to do was okay with her, especially if he just kept looking at her that way.   
  
"Am I supposed to be dressed fancy? Because I'm just wearing jeans."   
  
"No, it's fine. It's fine. It's for tourists mainly, so anything goes."   
  
"Are you sure it'll be okay?"  
  
"Positive."  
  
All right. And you're sure we can see the Loch Ness Monster?"  
  
"Well, I can't promise you that, but it's likely."  
  
"Okay. It sounds wonderful. Thank you. I should warn you, though, I don't travel well by portkey. I'm embarrassed to admit that I always wind up on my bum."   
  
"That's okay. We won't go by Portkey. There was no way I could get authorization for one, not with you listed on the application." He smiled and took her hand, leading her toward the fireplace. Cassie, however, was now thoroughly confused, and unsure of what he was planning. She thought it was possible to apparate holding onto someone else, but she had never traveled that way and thought it seemed rather scary.   
  
"Then how are we going?"   
  
"By floo powder, of course. Madame Rosmerta gave me permission to use her private fireplace."  
  
"Floo powder?" Cassie had no idea what he was talking about, but the word fireplace was sending warning signals to her brain.   
  
"Yeah, I know it's not ideal. Kind of messy. But we can clean you up when we get there. It's a little far to apparate two people and I know you're too young to have your own license." He grinned. "By the way," and his voice dropped very low with a husky note that sent signals of another kind out to every nerve ending in her body, "I haven't kissed you yet. Maybe we should remedy that situation. We've still got a few minutes before we really need to leave." And he pulled her close to him, wrapped his arms around her, and lowered his face to hers. Cassie closed her eyes in appreciation of every second of this. His lips were warm and firm and she stood on tiptoe to meet them more thoroughly. He pulled back after a second and she opened her eyes to see his looking down at her. "Cassie. I'd forgotten just how beautiful you are. And then you walked in and I thought I had seen an angel." She blushed. He lowered his mouth again. "I don't want to be late, but . . ." and then they were kissing again and she put her hands up on his shoulders, feeling the smooth satin of his robes under her fingers. He pulled back again and she instinctively put her hands up to her mouth as if to hold in the tingly feeling left behind. "Do you want to go first or shall I?"  
  
"Go . . . first?"   
  
"Into the fire." His arms were still around her and he was smiling. She blinked. He hadn't just said what she thought he had said, had he?  
  
"The fire?"   
  
"Here's the powder." He pulled a small bag out of his pocket. "The name of the place is the Dragon's Claw. You'd think they could have thought of something . . ."  
  
But she interrupted him. "What are you talking about, the fire? That doesn't make sense. I'll burn up."  
  
George laughed, but then pulled back, looking genuinely puzzled. "You're not going to burn up. You're a witch. Are you telling me you've never traveled by floo powder before?"   
  
She shook her head, realizing that the time had come to tell him. Lunch would obviously not be happening today. "George, I need to tell you something."  
  
"You just get into the fire and then announce where you want to go and throw down the floo powder. I don't understand how you've never traveled this way. If you don't like . . ."  
  
"George. I can't go in the fire."   
  
"I can go first, if you'd like, but I'd really rather you go first. That way I know you got there safely. I wish I could have found somewhere with a bigger fireplace. Then we could have gone together. The one at the restaurant is plenty . . ."   
  
"George!" She interrupted him. "You need to listen to me." Her heart was pounding. The moment of truth had come and she was alternating between terror and tears. "I have to tell you something important." He glanced down at his watch.   
  
"Right now? Because if we're late, we may lose the table."   
  
"Yes. Right now. I should have told you a long time ago, . . . but I was afraid. And the moment never seemed right." He was looking at her seriously now.   
  
"This is the big secret, then? The one you wanted me to ask my dad about?" She nodded and bit her lip. There was no way around it, really, and no easy way to say it. She stared down at her feet.   
  
"I'm a Muggle, George." Total silence. Then,  
  
"I already knew you were Muggle-born, Cassie. Remember? I . . "  
  
"No. Not a Muggle-born witch, just a plain old Muggle. Not a witch at all."   
  
"What did you say?" She wasn't sure she could say it again, but she had to.  
  
"I'm not a witch, George. I'm a Muggle." He laughed loudly.   
  
"That's really funny. I thought you were serious about this."   
  
"I'm being completely serious." She looked up at him, hoping that he would be able to tell she was being honest with him. The look of amusement faded from his face, replaced by doubt.   
  
"But . . . .that doesn't make any sense. I mean, you've been in Diagon Alley, and at Hogwarts, twice! You've been at school now for a week! Taking classes!"   
  
"And it hasn't been easy. But people see what they want to see. And I've got them all convinced that I'm a pretty powerful witch, really. Ask anyone."  
  
"What you're saying . . . it's not possible."   
  
"It's possible." George sat down hard in one of the chairs in front of the fire, his brows drawn together in confusion.   
  
"Well . . . .I guess this isn't going to work, is it?" The words she had been so convinced he would say still caught her by surprise and she took a deep breath in sudden shock at the pain of it. No matter how much she had told herself to expect it, it still stabbed like a knife and she gasped.   
  
"I guess not. I mean . . .you're right." She fought back the tears that suddenly threatened. She would not cry in front of him. She just couldn't. "I'll go back out with Ginny" she muttered quietly, and then suddenly the thought of seeing her with Harry, laughing and having a good time was too much. "No, I think I'll go back to the castle after all. I . . . I'm sorry, George. I never meant for it to get this out of control. She glanced at the small door they had come through and at the big doors that obviously led to the main part of the pub, unsure of which way would be best for an inconspicuous escape.   
  
His head whipped around. "Where are you going?"  
  
"Back to school, I guess. I'll be safe enough there."   
  
"Why?"   
  
"You said it wouldn't work, and I know you're right. I'm sorry I lied to you all this time." He stood up and took three steps with his very long legs to reach her.   
  
"I just meant that going by floo powder would definitely not work. You would end up a very crispy Cassie and I definitely don't want that. What's wrong?" The tears that had threatened overflowed and she hurriedly tried to wipe them away.   
  
"I thought that . . . I thought that you meant, you and I . . . I just . . .I'm sorry."   
  
"Cassie." George sat down into the chair again and pulled her over next to him, and then tugged hard on her arm until she had no option but to sit down on his lap. It was a strange feeling, but nice. "I don't care. Well, I mean I do care. I'm just absolutely amazed. You . . . you must be incredibly brave. And I want to hear all the details, some other time." He stopped because she was crying in earnest now and buried her face in his chest. His arms slid around her and held her for a long moment. "I never even suspected that. And I wouldn't have guessed in a million years. So you surprised me. Oh, come on. Don't cry. Please. In all the plans I made for today, having you cry was not on the agenda." Cassie laughed, a watery laugh, and realized that she had left tear marks all over his robes. He lifted her chin and kissed her briefly. "Look. Would you mind if I . . . I'm not trying to be mercenary, but I wasn't quite truthful about the begging part for today's reservation. It was more like a business arrangement, profitable to both sides. I better let them know we're not coming, but that we're still interested in the deal. Would you be offended if I called?" She shook her head. "You better get up then. This shouldn't take long."   
  
Cassie was not sure what she expected but it definitely was not what happened. He stepped closer to the fire and knelt down on the rug, bracing his arm against the side of the mantle. He reached into the little bag he had again pulled out of his pocket and threw something into the fire. "Dragon's Claw Inn," he said quite clearly and then he stuck his head in the fire and the flames flared. She gasped but he didn't move at all. "Hello. Yes. Today's luncheon is not going to work out after all. I'm dreadfully sorry." Apparently someone was talking back because there was a long pause. "I understand. Um, well, my date just wasn't that interested. Apparently, unbeknownst to me, she had a terrible incident when she was younger with another kelpie and . . . she was bitten quite badly. When I mentioned that we would probably be seeing Nessie today she went into near hysterics." Cassie tried very hard not to laugh. There was another long silence and she studied George as he knelt there. It was an interesting sight and she was glad that it was not her bum stuck in the air. He had a nice . . . body, though. He was tall, although Ron was obviously going to be taller when he was finished growing. His robes were open and she could see that he was wearing jeans and the white shirt she had previously noted. His feet were in some kind of rather fancy looking boots. Maybe alligator skin? She made a note to ask him later. Whatever they were, they looked expensive. He was talking again and she listened. "Of course, we are still interested in . . . Yes. The fireworks have already gone into production. They will be delivered in plenty of time for New Year's. Exactly like we promised and yes, the discount will still apply, even without your wonderful meal to help ease the pain." A short pause. "Well, just send it by owl instead. Terms as discussed. Yes. No problem. Thank you. Um, if I find another date who might be interested in coming some other time . . . is there any chance of my getting a table on short notice again? Hmm. I thought not. Well, that's fine. Thank you anyway." He pulled his head out of the fire and sat there blinking for a moment.   
  
This time Cassie did laugh. His face was black from soot and ash and his hair was definitely singed. "Were you really talking to someone or were you just pretending?"   
  
"Of course, silly. That's what's called fire-talking. My head comes out the other end and I can talk . . ." Cassie was shaking her head.   
  
"But your head stayed right there the whole time. I could hear you talking." He just wiggled an eyebrow at her and waved his wand quickly at his head which then returned to its normal coloring and cleanliness.   
  
"Magic, my dear. Magic. Sometime you'll see it from the other end." He stood up and brushed his knees off. "Now, let's see . . . where were we?" And he sat back down in the chair and pulled her down onto his lap again. This time, though, she did not feel like crying and the look on his face was a lot less confused. "I think we were somewhere about here." His hand slipped behind her head, under her braid, and pulled her face to his. When they were sitting like this, they were about on an even level, his head just a little higher than hers. So it was easy to tilt her head a little and let him kiss her. His other hand slipped around to her hip and stayed there. She wasn't sure what to do with her hands. As the kiss continued though, she wanted to touch hm, so she raised her hands to his face and laid them against his neck, feeling the pulse slow and steady above the collar of his shirt. After a minute or so, she pulled away and stared into his eyes.   
  
"Are you upset with me?"   
  
"I'm . . . shocked. I guess that's the only word for it. But I'm not angry if that's what you're asking. Obviously, this makes things a lot more complicated, but . . .I'm still here, with you. And that's where I want to be." She nodded.   
  
"That's where I want to be, too." He smiled, a secretive little smile and his hand came from behind her head to stroke against her jawline.   
  
"So we're not going to lunch. We have some time to kill. What shall we do?"   
  
"I don't know. Nothing really comes to mind." The light teasing she had gotten used to with him when they were in Diagon Alley together resumed as though they had never been apart.   
  
"I can think of one thing. . . but maybe you'd be bored."   
  
"I doubt it." And he kissed her again, more thoroughly this time, pulling her closer to him and angling his head so that their mouths fit together even more intimately.   
  
"Are you bored yet?" She shook her head. "Good. Neither am I." Merlin, she thought. He is a fantastic kisser. He moved away from her lips and started just pressing soft little kisses on her face, her eyes, nose, and chin, never touching her lips, the part that so desperately wanted to be touched. Finally, in desperation, she grabbed his chin with both hands and pressed her mouth firmly against his. He laughed and she felt a shiver go through her at the feel of his laughter against her lips. It was the most incredible thing she had ever felt. He pulled back after a few minutes. "Aggressive little thing, aren't you?" She smiled into his eyes, not offended in the least. "Are you getting hot in those robes?" She nodded. "You can take them off. I think we'll stay here for a while." She stood up, pushing the heavy robes down off her shoulders and throwing the bulky garment across the other chair. "You are so beautiful." He pulled her back down and she had a momentary qualm about sitting on his lap. But he wasn't doing anything obscene with her so she relaxed and leaned against him.   
  
"That's not true. I'm just me."   
  
"Well, just me is pretty incredible." He was touching her arm, where the edge of the jumper met her skin. "I like this on you. I like your hair, too, by the way, although it's such a beautiful blond color it seems a pity to cover it up."   
  
"Too conspicuous." She sat there for a few minutes in his arms, just enjoying the warmth of him and the feeling of being held although she was quite sure that if her mother saw her sitting on a boy's lap she would have a heart attack. "I guess I should get up." And he smelled so good. She turned her head and pressed her nose against his neck right above the collar of his shirt. It was a scent she didn't recognize but it was really nice. She made no effort to actually move.   
  
"Why? Aren't you comfortable?"  
  
"I'm very comfortable. Too comfortable."   
  
"No such thing."  
  
"I'm not too heavy on you?" He laughed and the feel of it vibrated through her whole body as his chest moved under her back.   
  
"Fishing for compliments, are you? You know I could lift six of you without trying." She flushed slightly. Maybe she had been fishing because she knew full well that her weight was not going to bother him. But she thought . . . well, she wasn't sure what she thought. She had wanted to call attention to the fact that she was on his lap. Maybe give him a graceful way to get her off. She wasn't sure. She looked at his arms as they curved around her tummy. He was extremely strong, if muscles were any indication. She suddenly remembered that he had been a Hitter on the Quidditch team. No, not a Hitter. A Beater.   
  
"George?"   
  
"Mmmm." She liked the way his chest rumbled as he hummed his answer like he was too comfortable and happy to even make the effort to talk.   
  
"Do you still play Quidditch?"  
  
"When I can - usually when I'm at the Burrow with the family."  
  
"I'd love to see you play sometime."   
  
"I'll remember that. Maybe I can take you flying." He shifted then, pulling her legs around so that she was sitting sideways on his lap again. "Enough talk. More kissing." And she smiled as his mouth met hers. She put her arms up around his neck and closed her eyes. She was sure that she could stay here forever if someone just fed her once in a while. No, never mind the food. Just water once in a while to sustain life. As he turned her face with his hand to allow his mouth to settle even more solidly against hers she had the thought that water was not necessary either. Kissing him would be enough, really, to keep her alive for a very long time.   
  
"Hem, hem!" A soft cough sounded behind her and George jumped about a mile, setting Cassie off his lap and standing up almost instantly. His eyes flashed as they landed on Ginny, who had a particularly wicked smile on her face.   
  
"That was uncalled for."   
  
"Wondered if you'd remember. Hey, I hate to interrupt your little reunion but everyone's heading over to Zonko's. Hermione's got them all stalled at the bookstore, but I don't think Harry and Ron's patience is going to last too much longer. Since you obviously can't go to lunch as you originally planned . . . I think you should sneak over and pretend you've been there the whole time. That will forestall some rather messy explanations, I would think."   
  
"Fred told you, then?"   
  
"Of course, once we all informed him of the fact that Cassie would never be able to do the bat bogey hex on anyone. He did look slightly panicked. But I informed him that she would never be stupid enough to step into a burning fire - even if the promised lunch on the other side sounded really tempting. But don't worry. He told me in private. That's why I think you should . . . keep up appearances. I've got to get back there myself. I told Harry I had to run to the loo, but I can't be too long. Seriously, you've got maybe 10 minutes, tops!" And then she was gone.   
  
"Hmmm." George looked down at Cassie. "She's too smart for her own good. I don't want to go over there and meet everyone . . . but we're going to have to eat sometime. And I think you really would enjoy the shops, so . . . I guess today, instead of Nessie, you get a guided tour of Hogsmeade by one who knows it best. It'll be great." He took her hand. "I'm not going to be able to do much of this today. But remember what it feels like, okay?" And then he tugged her to him and kissed her very thoroughly and five minutes later as they slipped out the little side door and he dropped her hand, she realized that a whole day of being near him and not being able to touch or kiss him was going to certainly be an exercise in self-discipline.


	38. Window Shopping in Hogsmeade

Chapter 38  
Window Shopping in Hogsmeade  
  
George smiled at her as they crossed the street in front of The Three Broomsticks and then slipped into the alley rather than walking along the crowded sidewalks. "We'll run into them if we go on the street, so we'll use the back alleys. I know right where I'm going, so you don't need to worry." Cassie was not worried. In fact, of all the emotions she was feeling at this moment, worry wasn't even registering on the list. Mostly, it was excitement although happiness was ranking high as well. She felt like she was on an adventure - one you could read about in a novel or watch during a movie. And the fact that she was with a handsome boy who liked her and there was the definite possibility of more kissing later on in the adventure was adding to the pounding of her heart and the undoubted flush of her face. The stores from this angle looked like they could belong in any old-fashioned sort of town, Muggle or wizarding. Although when Cassie looked a little closer as they passed behind one, right before they turned a corner, she noticed some cauldrons stacked behind it. Okay, that she would not see in a Muggle town. A moment later George pushed open a dingy-looking door and they slipped into a darkened storeroom. He put his hand to her mouth as the door shut behind them. "Shhh. Don't want to scare anyone." He whispered low next to her ear and she nodded. The room was completely dark and George didn't move for a second. "Lumos," he said in a slightly louder whisper and his wand tip lit up. Cassie smiled at him through the dim light and he smiled back. "I know this place well. The door to the store is right through there." He indicated a door across the narrow room. "But first," and he turned to her and grabbed her shoulders. She let out a small squeal of surprise that was quickly muffled by his lips against hers.   
  
She could have stood there all day, letting him kiss her like that. When she felt a wall against her back, she smiled to herself. Good. She liked being kissed this way because it helped support her when her knees got rather weak and watery. But before she could even settle into what she had hoped would be a very nice long kiss, George pulled away from her. "Come on." And then he was pulling her through the door into a totally surprising amount of light and noise. So far in Hogsmeade, she had not seen that many students. The five of them had found the streets still quiet as they approached the Three Broomsticks and though the pub had been full when she and George had left by the front entrance, the noise level had been low. Since then, she had only seen Ginny. But coming into what she must assume was Zonko's, she thought her eardrums might well explode. The store was absolutely packed full with students, and all of them seemed to be screaming at the top of their lungs. At first, she was terrified that something bad had happened, but George didn't even miss a step as he led her, weaving through packed aisles, until they reached a corner of the store. She looked around, wanting to see everything, although it was nearly impossible to see much more than a few inches in front of your face before you saw black robes. She saw a few faces she recognized and she said hello and hi and smiled as they passed. No one seemed to think it odd in the least that she was here with one of the Weasleys and after a short while she relaxed.   
  
The shelves were stuffed full of merchandise, but she could see that this would not last long. Students were grabbing things off the shelves at an astounding rate. Cassie looked closer at what was on the shelves in front of them and saw that it was mostly Weasley's Wizard Wheezes merchandise that she recognized from their store. George grabbed a girl's arm as she grabbed a box of fireworks. "Excuse me . . .I'm taking a survey. Would you be willing to help? I have a nice gift for those participating." The girl, a third-year Ravenclaw, nodded rather hesitantly and he proceeded to ask her all sorts of questions about what else she was buying and why she had picked that particular item, etc. At the end of the brief discussion, he reached into his robe pocket and drew out a small bag. He enlarged it and then handed her an item from inside it. She scuttled off and he turned to Cassie. "Fred was supposed to be doing this. I don't even have parchment and quill to write down the answers. I don't suppose you do?"   
  
"Sorry. Did you really come to town to do a survey?" Her heart sunk a little.   
  
"Of course not. You know very well why I came. We don't really need to do this market research . . . but we thought it made a good excuse for why we would choose to come to Hogsmeade on one of the busiest days of the year. And these . . ." He handed her the bag, "are for you. They won't turn you purple or anything. They're just good chocolates, I promise." She smiled and took them. She felt much better now. It was silly, she knew, but she didn't care. She was thrilled that he had really come for her.   
  
"Let's wait for everyone else to get here and then we'll put Fred to work doing the surveying and you and I can look around at the various things. This is a great store."   
  
"It sure seems very popular."   
  
"Yeah. We were pleased when Zonko's started carrying our stuff. Eventually we want to open our own outlet here, but that's a few years down the road, I think. We don't want to tie up too much capital and time. We're rather busy with . . ." His voice trailed off and he looked stricken for a second and Cassie suddenly realized what he meant. The war. Her heart skipped a beat. It was still hard to believe that he was fighting in this war. And there was every possibility that he or Fred may not survive it. She glanced at him with sudden terror. The thought of any of the Weasleys' lives being snuffed out by the evil they were currently fighting scared her and she grabbed his hand.   
  
"Promise me you won't die."   
  
"I'm too stubborn to die." And he laughed, but she sensed the nerves behind it and she wanted to hug him in reassurance, but right then, the other five of their group found them and she and George both forced smiles onto their faces. "Glad you're here, Fred. We've gotten about 10 surveys done. Good stuff. Your turn. I would think 5-6 more would be an adequate sample. Meanwhile, I'll look around the store and see what the competition is offering. Come on, Pia." All six of them left Fred standing there trying to find someone who would be willing to answer a survey.   
  
Ron and Harry seemed to know exactly what they wanted and headed immediately for that section of the store, a feat more difficult than one might have expected. They had to keep fighting their way through crowds. However, their persistence paid off and they both grabbed their desired items off the shelves. Ginny also smiled happily as she grabbed a box of dungbombs off another shelf nearby.   
  
"Did you want to buy anything, Pia?" George asked as Ginny and Harry got into a bit of a friendly argument over who would be paying for her selected merchandise.   
  
"No. I wouldn't have any idea what to get."   
  
"You have a little brother, don't you?" At Cassie's nod, George grinned. "Well, then almost anything here would be great. He would have a great time tormenting your parents with the dungbombs or the frog-spawn soap."   
  
"What do those do?"   
  
"The dungbombs just stink like crazy - as the name implies. The soap looks innocent enough until you actually wash with it, and then the bubbles turn into tadpoles."   
  
"Um - thanks for the suggestions, but I think I'll pass. I do have to get both my brothers Christmas presents, but I don't think either of those things sound like they would work."   
  
"You have two younger brothers?"   
  
"Yes. Matthew is 12 and John is 8."   
  
"I think I only knew about the 12-year-old."   
  
"Yeah. He had a birthday and I bought him some things at your shop. That's why."  
  
"Oh. That's right. You wound up getting him some fireworks, if I remember correctly."   
  
"The wet-start, no-heat kind. They were a really big hit. Everyone loved them. All of his friends were pestering me for more of them, but I told them I had ordered them from a catalog that I conveniently forgot the name of. I think they all were checking internet search engines for weeks hoping they would find them on line. They never had any luck, of course." Ron and Harry had finished paying for their purchases and were headed back toward them. Ginny was scowling as Harry had apparently won the argument and had paid for her box of dungbombs. But Cassie noticed that she took the bag when Harry presented it to her.   
  
"Okay. I'll bite. What's an internet search engine?" Cassie looked at him in surprise but then remembered they didn't use electricity, thus, no computer.   
  
"That's a long story. I'll tell you about it sometime. But if you ever want to expand into the Muggle market, you'll definitely want to use the internet. Basically . . . well, there's really nothing basic about it. Too confusing to talk about right now." They were joined a second later by the two couples, both holding hands and another minute later by Fred, who looked flustered.   
  
"Next time I suggest coming to Hogsmeade to do market research - hit me. I forgot how completely insane this store is when the madding hordes are here." They all shoved their way through the crowds, heading toward the door. Once outside, they stood there, breathing hard, trying to cool off after the heat of the interior of the store.   
  
"When are we going to eat, and where?" Ron asked. Hermione laughed.   
  
"Do you ever think about anything but food? Honestly. It's rather embarrassing."   
  
"I'm a growing boy. I need nutrition." He scowled at her, but then they both grinned at each other. Cassie had heard this argument between them several times in the week she had been at school with them and realized that it was sort of a running joke between them and no malice was intended.   
  
"Anyone have any ideas?" They all looked at each other but no one volunteered any suggestions. "How about the Hungry House-Elf, then?" Hermione scowled this time, but Ron just jostled her arm.   
  
"You know you like it there, Hermione. It's just the name that gets you frazzled."  
  
"The food is good . . . but I always feel like a traitor when I go in there." Cassie deduced from this short conversation that this must be a restaurant or café. If the food was good, it sounded promising. But she didn't say anything. She would be happy with anything, really.   
  
"I think that's a bit pricey, Fred, for us students." Cassie knew by that comment that Ron actually meant himself and she squirmed in sympathy. She decided she should mention that she didn't have much either.   
  
"I'm a little strapped right now myself actually, Fred. I've only got a few galleons with me and I don't know when I can get more." Ron looked at her gratefully and Cassie smiled back at him.   
  
"Fine, fine. We'll pay for everyone, then." Ron brightened up measurably. Cassie was embarrassed, but she assumed George had planned on paying for her lunch at that inn by Loch Ness anyway, so maybe as far as she was concerned it wouldn't make any difference. Hermione didn't say anything to argue against it and Cassie watched her carefully for a second. It was sort of interesting, the dynamics of the two established couples there. Harry had lots of money, she had been told, and Ginny didn't have much. So Harry was easily able to pay for anything and everything she wanted and that worked okay. But Hermione came from a family where both her parents were dentists and she was an only child. So, she was probably not used to watching her spending and her parents probably kept her in however many galleons she wanted. But Ron, who was expected to pay for everything, had hardly any money and probably had to scrimp and save for the simplest meals and things. She wondered vaguely if Hermione chafed under the forced spending restrictions. At school, she imagined, it would make little difference. It was only on days such as this and maybe at Christmas and other holidays that it would matter. Cassie looked away from Hermione and looked up at George instead. However Hermione dealt with it, she had obviously done so, because she was definitely in love with Ron and his lack of money didn't seem to be a hindrance. George glanced down at her and grinned.   
  
"Does that sound good?"   
  
"Anything would be fine. I'm not fussy."   
  
"Okay. Well, Fred, why don't you pop over and see if we can get a table? It's usually crowded on Hogsmeade day, and with seven of us . . . it might take them a bit to get ready for us." Fred nodded and a second later with a quiet pop, he was gone. Cassie blinked. She hadn't seen anyone young disapparate before. She had forgotten that once they got to be 17, they could get a license for this. "Oh, darn it. I was going to ask him to check into getting one of their private rooms. I thought it would be easier to talk there. I'll be right back." And then, with an almost identical pop, he was gone, too. Less than a minute later, George was back. "Okay. He's going to try. He'll be here in a few minutes. What else shall we do today?"  
  
Everyone seemed to have a suggestion. Honeyduke's was suggested by both Ron and Harry and Cassie jumped in, saying that she wanted to go there, also. They were discussing other places that they wanted to visit when Fred reappeared. "All right. The only room available was the Slytherin one. Hope that's okay." There were groans all around. "Just kidding, just kidding! Don't bite my head off. We could have had the Slytherin room at noon, but if we were willing to wait until 1, we could get the Gryffindor one. Of course, that's what I told them we would prefer to do."   
  
"That's more than an hour from now!" Ron groaned. "I'll die."   
  
"You won't die. Just think how nice and hungry you'll be when we get there."   
  
"I'll definitely get one of those appetizers I love so much if you're keeping me waiting that long."   
  
"That's fine. We'll probably all need something like that by then. Meanwhile, have a chocolate." Fred held out a bag of chocolates that Cassie thought was identical to the one George had given her inside the store. Ron reached out to take one, but then drew his hand back.   
  
"No thanks. I'll . . . wait. Let's go to Honeyduke's first."   
  
"Ron! No. You'll eat too much and you won't be hungry for lunch. Let's go to some other stores first and then Honeyduke's after we eat." Everyone else agree with Hermione's suggestion and Ron grumbled but gave in. His hesitancy at eating from the bag Fred held made Cassie a little nervous about her own chocolates. George had promised that they were fine and she doubted that he would lie to her about something like that . . . but then she remembered the Dragon Kisses and thought she would eat them with caution. She thought about offering Ron one of her chocolates, but didn't want to try to explain how she had gotten them, so she didn't.   
Since Honeyduke's had been vetoed, Ron seemed set on getting them all into his second-favorite store and they followed him down the street to a place called Spackman's. It was not nearly as busy as Zonko's had been, although Cassie could see through the window that there were some students looking at the merchandise. The sign above the door read "Spackman's Wizarding Sports and Magical Games" and it was with a definite warming of interest that Cassie followed George into the shop. The store had a wide variety of items and Cassie thought it all looked fascinating. There was a whole Quidditch section and Harry and Ginny made a beeline directly for that corner of the store. There seemed to be a professional Quidditch teams area which sold all sorts of items with the teams logos and what looked like a selection of team posters. Ron made an exclamation about there being a new Chudley Cannons poster and dragged a bored-looking Hermione toward it for inspection. Fred, George, and Cassie watched the four as they headed off and Fred grimaced. "It looks like we found something to distract Ickle Ronniekins from his stomach. We'll be lucky if we can get him out of here before we lose our reservation." George laughed in response and Cassie smiled, too. Poor Ron. It must be hard to be younger than two brothers like George and Fred. He would be the subject of unbelievable teasing. Then Fred muttered something about needing some new Exploding Snap cards and left the two of them standing there alone.   
  
"Anything in particular that interests you?"   
  
"Whatever you think would be fun to look at. I'm not interested in buying anything. Do they sell those animated chess sets here?"   
  
"Animated chess sets?" George looked confused.   
  
"Yeah . . . the ones that move."   
  
"They sell chess sets here, of course. What do you mean by animated?"  
  
"They move."   
  
"Of course they move."   
  
"Well, not all chess sets move, you know. Muggle ones just stand still."   
  
"I've heard that but I never really believed it. I thought Hermione was just pulling my leg. They don't move at all?"  
  
"No. They don't talk either."   
  
"That doesn't sound like it would be very fun."   
  
"I'm hardly an expert. I haven't played much . . . Muggle chess. Never wizard chess. But, when I did play, it was fun."  
  
"Haven't played much, huh? Interesting." Cassie looked up at him because he had a strange tone in his voice that she could not identify. But his face was totally serious and she couldn't really tell what he meant by that. He led her over to the chess sets and she looked in amazement at the variety of chess sets available. There were probably 20-30 sets on display, ranging from a small set that looked like it could be tucked into a pocket or purse to an extremely large, very ornate set whose individual pieces were probably 12 inches high. Each piece was decorated with what to Cassie at least looked like real jewels and the crowns on the heads of the kings and queens sparkled like gold. One set was playing by itself and Cassie laughed at the different pieces as they all argued among themselves over which pieces should be sacrificed to the other team.   
  
"How do they do that? Make them play by themselves, I mean."   
  
"It's not difficult. If they are set up, they play. A simple charm on the two kings to be in charge of the other pieces, and . . . well, it's not that hard." She laughed as one of the pawns refused to move in front of the enemy's knight but then she turned to George.   
  
"It sounds hard."   
  
"It's not." George stepped a little closer to her and put his hand on her arm. "We're by ourselves here. No one is looking at us. And if we step over there a little bit . . ." Cassie looked where he was indicating. He was right. This corner of the shop was exceptionally deserted and the wall jutted out there. If they stepped behind it, it would be almost impossible to be seen unless someone was practically on top of them. She nodded faintly, hoping that she understood what he was asking her. He stepped over to the tiny alcove and pulled her in next to him. They had to stand very close to each other. Neither of them complained. "Hi, beautiful." She flushed at his compliment. His hand cupped her chin, lifting her face up to his for his soft kiss.   
  
You would think, she told herself, that after kissing the same boy a few times it would start to be kind of repetitious. But it wasn't. Every time it was different. This time, it was almost tentative, like he had forgotten what it was like in the 45 minutes or so since their lips had last touched. She made a small noise in the back of her throat and he seemed to take that as encouragement, because he pulled her closer. After a few minutes, though, they both realized that they were taking a rather big risk and so by mutual agreement they pushed away from each other and walked back out into the main part of the store. They drifted casually over to the Quidditch supplies and George admired the latest model of Firebolt that was on display. After a few moments of that, though, he and Cassie headed over to the area where Ron was still examining the various Chudley Cannons merchandise.   
  
"Do you like the Cannons, too?"   
  
"Hell, no! I actually have taste, unlike my pitiful younger brother who seems to feel that lost causes are always the best ones to support. I like the Falmouth Falcons." Ron just smirked at him and left the area. Cassie thought that he probably didn't want to hear anything bad about his beloved Cannons. He did seem to really be attached to that particular Quidditch team. Of course, she couldn't say anything. She had seen many an extended family argument over which football team was worthy of support. Men. They all seemed to be the same, whether they were wizard or Muggles.   
  
"Ron doesn't always support lost causes." And Cassie nodded her head over toward the younger brother in question, who had his arms around his girlfriend and was whispering something in her ear.   
  
"Hmph. Only because she wouldn't let him be too big a prat to notice him. And, of course, the famous Weasley charm didn't hurt matters."   
  
"Weasley charm, huh? I'm not sure I'm familiar with that concept."   
  
He slanted her a nasty look. "Ha. Very funny. Watch it, or I won't buy you any lunch." Cassie decided she better change the subject rather quickly although she had only been kidding. She glanced over the team displays.   
  
"Did you say the Falcons?" He nodded. She raised an eyebrow. "Their colors are horrid. That gray is really blah."  
  
"Colors? That's a girl's comment for you. Who cares about colors? They're a good team. They play hard and they're great to watch. And they actually win a lot of their games." He turned to talk to Fred, who had come over to see what they were looking at. Cassie grabbed a small Falcons sticker. It was only a sickle and she could afford it. On second thought, she grabbed another one. He probably already had one, but he surely wouldn't mind another. She saw Harry up at the register, paying for something and she headed over to him.   
  
"Hi, Pia. Are you having fun?"   
  
"This is a great store!"   
  
"It's fun. We come here quite often and spend too much money. I'm getting a book today. What are you buying?"   
  
"A couple of stickers."  
  
"The Falcons? Who likes the Falcons?"  
  
"Um. . . . I like their mascot. It's nice."   
  
"Yeah. Okay." He looked like he had serious doubts about her taste, but she ignored that.   
  
"Who do you like?"   
  
"I cheer for the Cannons. Keeps the peace. Besides, I don't really follow the professional teams. They play in the summer and in the past, it hasn't been that easy to find out what's going on. That'll probably change now. Maybe I'll find a team of my own to support. Ron will eventually forgive me, I suppose." Cassie paid her two sickles and took the bag back from the smiling cashier and then turned back to Harry.   
  
"I'm sure he won't hold it against you forever."   
  
"Have you ever actually spoken to Ron about Quidditch? He's a little obsessed." Cassie was about to make a funny comment back, since that had been exact thought a few minutes before but everyone else came over to join them.   
  
"We're going to head out to see what else there is to see before we go to lunch." George looked at the bag Cassie still held in her hand but she just grinned at him and put the bag into her purse. It wasn't much, but she wanted to surprise him with it later. They left the store a moment later and started down the sidewalk. They stopped several times to visit with students that they recognized. They saw Neville who was walking with Dean and they talked for a few minutes. A little later, they saw Pavarti and Lavender, who tried unsuccessfully to flirt with George. Cassie tried not to scowl at her openly. She wanted to punch her in the nose, but she restrained herself. She knew Lavender was not really interested in George. It was just that she liked to flirt with anyone male. At least, that was the impression she had gotten from Hermione in the past.   
  
As they left the two girls, Ginny grabbed Harry's arm. "I've always wanted to look in this shop and you always say we don't have time. We're standing here, we've got about a half hour before lunch, and I've got backup in Hermione and Pia. I want to look in here and I won't take no for an answer." Harry rolled his eyes.   
  
"Fine. But you've really only got 20 minutes. So make it quick."   
  
All seven of them entered the shop and Cassie immediately saw why there had been a conflict. It was a jewelry shop - and it didn't look cheap. On top of that, there was an entire section of the small store dedicated to engagement and wedding rings, a subject that Cassie supposed all males were instinctively wired to avoid. Ron groaned and George patted him on the back.   
  
"Better start saving those sickles, son. I'm afraid your single days are numbered." Hermione shot George a dirty look, but then all three girls headed over to the ring section. They were not all engagement rings. There seemed to be a counter full of magical rings of all types and since Cassie was not interested in the engagement rings at all, she stopped there and studied the items out on the counter. Most of them were quite lovely. There were some obviously geared for Hogwarts students and their parents because they had the crests of the different houses of the school and there were some that had two different houses' crests. There were some that had what Cassie recognized as the Hogwarts' crest with all four mascot animals. There were some rings that seemed to have been charmed to do various things for the wearer such as making them smarter or more beautiful. Cassie looked those over briefly but didn't pay too much attention to them. There were lockets of all sorts, all of them magically charmed. From what she could tell from the brief description, if you put likenesses of your true love and yourself into the lockets, different things would happen. It could strengthen love, protect your lover, ensure that he could not stray, etc., etc. Cassie looked these over carefully, trying to decide if these were something her mother would like. She had just discarded the idea completely when she heard her name being called.   
  
"Pia. Come here." She looked up and saw Harry motioning her over to a counter. She stepped over to him and caught her breath. The pendants, each suspended on a slender gold chain, were beautiful and she looked in wonder at them. "There's yours."   
  
Cassie looked closer. Each of the pendants were round with some sort of gemstone that Cassie didn't recognize. It had a depth to it that made the pendant look deep and mysterious. Each of the pendants had jewels, diamonds she supposed, set into the gemstone in a random-looking pattern. The overall effect was lovely, like nothing she had ever seen before. George walked up behind her. "What are you looking at?"   
  
Harry answered him. "They're constellations. See? The dark sky and the diamonds are the stars. I was just telling Pia that this one is hers."   
  
"Her what?"  
  
"The constellation she was named after. Cassiopeia." George's eyebrows rose into his fringe.   
  
"I didn't know . . . that makes sense, though. And those are nice. Do you like them?"   
  
"It's lovely - but too dangerous for me to wear. No one can really put both names together, you see." Cassie was extremely embarrassed by this conversation. But she raised her chin. No reason to be embarrassed. Harry was just pointing them out, not suggesting that she buy one. And they really were lovely. "Thank you, Harry. They are beautiful." She was about to say more, but Ron interrupted.   
  
"Aren't we done here yet? I'm starving. It's gotta be time for lunch." Cassie glanced down at her watch. It was about ten minutes before they were supposed to be at the restaurant. Everyone laughed and the seven friends stepped out of the cool dark shop onto the brightness of the Hogsmeade street again and Fred led the expedition toward the restaurant. It might have a strange name but everyone seemed to agree that the food was good, and right now that was her main priority. She didn't want to admit it to anyone but she was in complete agreement with Ron. She was starving, and it had to be time for lunch.


	39. Lunch, Laughter, and Lessons at the Hung...

An extra-long chapter today. Hope you all enjoy!

Chapter 39

Lunch, Laughter, and Lessons at the Hungry House Elf

Cassie wasn't sure what to expect from a restaurant called The Hungry House Elf. But as they approached, she saw that it appeared to be decorated appropriate to its name. As the seven of them arrived right at 1:00, Cassie saw a life-sized, painted house elf holding a platter of food and looking at the newcomers with a simpering smile on its ceramic face. Hermione looked at the statue, rolled her eyes in frustration and mumbled something under her breath. Harry looked it over critically. "That reminds me of the stupid Fountain of Magical Brethren in the Ministry of Magic offices. They must have had the same sculptor. I swear that elf has the exact same stupid smile on it's face." Cassie leaned over and whispered to Hermione. "I think the little statue is rather revolting." Hermione smiled her agreement as they all entered the stone and beam building.

The ambience inside the candle-lit entry was rich and traditional. Cassie noted hand-sewn tapestries hanging on the walls and linen-draped tables arranged about the main dining room, which was visible from the front door. She recognized a number of students from Hogwarts amongst the tables. Some were dining together as couples, while others appeared to be with their parents. Cassie and the others smiled and nodded their hellos to some of the diners. She and Ginny grinned at each other when they noticed Colin and Elspeth at a small table over in a corner holding hands across the table and looking intently at each other. She was tempted to go over and say hello as they had certainly not noticed them. But before she could, a gray-haired witch called the group and they followed her down a side hall past two ornate doors. The first door had a silver snake coiled on either side with the snakes body reaching almost shoulder length into the air and the wide mouth of each looking threateningly out as if the snakes were standing guard. Above the door was written Slytherin Room. The next door was guarded by shoulder high silver eagles. That door was partly open and Cassie stole a glance inside. The room appeared to be beautifully decorated with a theme of blue and silver. In the middle of the room was a long table with a large center-piece, surrounded by high-backed chairs.

The third door was guarded by two shoulder-high golden lions and Cassie knew they had arrived at the Gryffindor Room. They all walked in and Cassie stared in awe at the splendid decor of the room. It was wood paneled, with a polished wood floor. In the center of the floor was a red woven Oriental carpet with gold lions scattered all over it. In the center of the room was a round table elegantly set with a Gryffindor crest center piece and fine china and crystal sporting the same house crest. Cassie realized that the table in each room must be magicked to fit the needs of the group using it at any particular time. At one end of the room was a large stone fireplace and along the sides were a couple of antique divans. At the other end was a mini-wet-bar with various bottles of liquor and wine on top of it. 

Ron's eyes widened and he made a bee-line toward the bar. "Cool! They've got Fire Whiskey. That sounds good with lunch." Hermione gave Ron an exasperated look. They all walked over to the bar as everyone looked to see what was available. 

Fred laughed, patted Ron hard on the back , commenting, "Sorry, little bro. You're still too young too drink that stuff." He then poured a shot of the whiskey in a glass, took a swig and grinned at Ron. As he turned away, he made a face and whispered to Cassie, "It's not really that good, but I have to drink some to mess with his mind." 

"I'm not too young. I've been 17 for months -- in fact, I'm almost 18. And I've had it before, you know." 

George spoke up as Ron grabbed a tumbler from the stack. "I'm not paying for any of you to get drunk today. Dumbledore would have our hides, not to mention what Mum would do if she found out." 

Ron again opened his mouth to say something in protest, but was stopped by Hermione. "No, Ron. You're not going to have whiskey when you're still in school. Besides, I don't like to kiss you after you've had the stuff. Your mouth tastes funny." 

Ron smiled and put the tumbler back. But he touched her gently on the side of the face. "You could fix that by drinking some, too." 

"I could, but since I think it's foul, I think I'll have to pass." 

"Spoil sport." 

Cassie looked away from the two of them, feeling like she was intruding on a private moment. She looked instead at George, who was teasing Ginny about something. He must have felt her gaze because he turned back to her. "I hope you're going to have butterbeer with your lunch. It's good warm." 

She nodded. "I was planning on it. This room looks expensive. I hope this isn't going to cost you too much." 

"Nah," George replied. "I'm just going to pay for you. Fred's going to pay for the rest." Cassie gave him a startled look but then laughed when she noticed the twinkle in his eyes. 

About that time, a brown-haired waitress came into the room and approached them as they stood by the bar. "Hi, everyone. My name is Zensa Carrick, and I'll be serving your lunch today. So let me know if I can bring you anything. Do you need menus?"

Fred looked around at the rest. "We will need them, but we do know what sort of an appetizer we want. We'll begin with some deep-fried horklumps and that special sauce you make to go with them. And, you may hear this a lot, but you look really familiar."

The waitress laughed. "I should. I was in your year at school. In Hufflepuff." 

"Oh, yeah! I'm sorry I didn't recognize you! It's been a long time!" 

"Yeah. Too long. It's good to see you two, also. I hear about your products all the time, though, so I knew you were doing okay. You two . . . who'd have guessed that all the trouble you got into at school actually wound up being valuable." She looked at them carefully. "I still remember that swamp in 7th year! That was so hilarious. You know it's still there, right? Made me laugh the entire year." 

"We've heard that Flitwick left a portion to serve as a momento. Very flattering, I must admit. I thought you were studying to work with magical creatures when you were in school."

"I did . . . I am. This isn't my usual job." She waved her hand around the room. 

"Oh, that's right. Don't your mum and dad own this place?"

Zensa grinned. "Yes, they do. And usually on Hogsmeade visit days I come in to help out because we're so busy. I'll get those appetizers for you right away." She smiled at all of them, although Cassie noticed that she looked at her for a long moment, obviously not recognizing her. "It's good to see you, Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny."

"This is our cousin, Pia." 

"Oh, I do see the family resemblance. Nice to meet you." Cassie nodded back. She was a nice girl. Zensa gave an extra smile at Fred, handed him the menus and then hurried out. 

"Well, that was embarrassing. I think I even dated her once." George laughed at Fred's comment. 

"No reason to be embarrassed. You leave girls all over the place. But usually they're the ones who don't remember you." Fred smirked at his twin. 

"Funny, funny. It's warm in here, isn't it?" Everyone else nodded in agreement. The fire was warming the room up very nicely and Cassie's heavy winter robes were really starting to feel oppressive. Fred took his robes off. "I'm not wearing these things through lunch. I'll melt." Everyone took their robes off, placing them on the two divans and then as if by mutual agreement, they went to sit down at the table. Cassie studied George as they walked across the room and got situated. His shirt was white linen and now that his robes were off, she could see the initials G. W. embroidered in blue above the left pocket. His jeans were well-worn, hugging his long legs in just the right places and she felt her mouth getting a little dry as she watched him unbutton the cuffs of the shirt and roll them up a turn or two on each arm. Fred's clothes were a lot less conservative. His shirt was a lime green and his pants were a black material. Cassie couldn't really tell what they were made out of. His boots matched George's, though. 

Hermione had sat down first and Ron sat on her left. Cassie sat down by Hermione and hoped that George would sit in the empty seat next to her. He did, with Fred on his other side, and then Ginny and Harry. That meant that Ron and Harry were sitting next to each other. Cassie knew from previous experience that this could mean trouble and Hermione obviously had the same thought, because she shot Ron the evil eye as a warning to behave. Ginny tried to shoot the same look at Harry, but he just glared back and the two of them laughed.

Cassie picked up her extremely ornate menu and turned to the first page. This was apparently where the appetizers were listed but she didn't see one thing she recognized. She remembered the word Horklump being discussed but there were several items that featured the little animals and she didn't remember what it was they had ordered. So, she abandoned that page and turned to the list of entrees. Cassie saw that most of what was offered was the usual British fare and she relaxed. It all looked tasty. However, as she continued to study the menu, she noticed a section of the menu titled "For the More Adventurous Palate." This section included dishes Cassie had never heard of and some she sincerely hoped she never tasted.

Filet of Dragon served in a ring of stewed oysters and artichoke hearts

Roasted Diricawl in plum sauce with wild rice

Salamander Soufflé

BBQ rack of Hippogriff, smoky, sweet, or honey mustard. 

Fire Crab Soup, served with papaya-mango-passion fruit pudding

Roast of Mooncalf with carrots and new potatoes

Eye of Newt Stew

Smoked Graphorn on a bed of sautéed red peppers and truffles.

Clabbert-kabobs marinated in Ogden's Fire Whiskey and served flaming with carrots, red peppers, yellow peppers, green peppers, and purple peppers with wild rice.

Cassie stared at the menu in disbelief and let her curiosity get the better of her. "Why would anyone want to eat dragon? That sounds disgusting!"

Hermione turned to her. "It enhances magical ability, kind of like a pep pill or something. Only temporary, of course, but . . ."

"That's not all it enhances." Fred interrupted.

Cassie watched with fascination as both Harry and George turned slightly red and Ginny tried to stifle a little giggle. Ron, on the other hand, grinned and jumped right into the conversation. "I've heard that. Maybe I'll get it today."

Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation. "That's just an old wives' tale. And Ron, you definitely do not need it." Harry looked pained but he started to laugh, while both Fred and George chuckled loudly. 

Cassie was still puzzled. "What? What are you talking about?"

Ginny looked at Hermione with a wide grin and said, "Um, Hermione, that could be taken two completely different ways. Which way do you mean?" Then it was Hermione's turn to blush and Cassie suddenly realized what the undertone of the conversation was. 

"Oh! Oh my!" Cassie suddenly caught on that they were talking about dragon meat being an aphrodisiac. Ron scowled at Ginny. 

Hermione just spluttered, "Well, I didn't mean it like that! I wouldn't know if . . . I mean . . ., oh, really!" 

"Maybe I should order it, though. I've got a date with Angelina tonight . . That party, remember?" Fred mused aloud. 

George just looked at Fred and pursed his lips. "You're dreaming, Fred. And I only mean that one way." Fred just scowled back at his twin. Everyone else at the table laughed; Cassie too. George looked down at her and their eyes met for a second or so. He quickly looked around at the entire table. "No one is going to order dragon. Just find something else to eat, okay?" 

They went back to studying the various choices and, before they realized it, Zensa had returned with a large tray heaped with what appeared to be odd-looking deep-fried mushrooms and a greenish-yellow sauce. Although the others eagerly reached out and began dipping the deep-fried horklumps, Cassie refrained. George offered her one, but she shook her head. To her, it looked disgusting and she didn't want to try it. Between mouthfuls, everyone ordered and Cassie listened carefully, hoping to get an idea of what to order for herself. 

Hermione ordered first, selecting the Fire Crab soup and then turned expectantly to Ron, whose mouth was full of horklumps. His eyes widened in realization that it was his turn to order. He chewed hurriedly and swallowed with a loud gulp. Hermione shook her head while Ginny and Harry snickered. "Uh, yeah, I think I'll have the fried chicken." 

Hermione looked at him with a slightly aggravated expression. "You can eat fried chicken anytime."

"But it's my favorite."

She again rolled her eyes in apparent frustration, but Cassie detected a small, amused smile. "Whatever. It's your lunch."

Ginny ordered the Smoked Graphorn, while Harry ordered shepherd's pie. When Ginny tried to give him a Hermione look, he just grinned. "I like shepherd's pie." 

Zensa's attention turned to the twins and Cassie listened as they both discussed their options with her. Movement out of the corner of her eye caused her to turn to look at Harry. He had closed his menu and was leaning back in his chair. His eyes were closed and Ginny was patting his arm slowly. Harry reached up to his scar and rubbed it for a moment and then took a deep breath. His eyes opened again and their deep green found Cassie's across the table. She met his gaze and smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring way. Then she looked over to her left where George and Fred seemed to still be in the middle of a discussion over what to order.

"Yes, indeed, Forge, I do think that would be a tasty dish to sample."

"Well then, Gred, say we go ahead and take the plunge."

"Or, in this case, bite the flame," Fred chuckled as he turned to Zensa who was eyeing him expectantly. "I'll have the Clabbert-kabobs and please make sure the flames are big." 

She laughed and gave him a small wink. "Anything you want." She then turned to George, who ordered the same dish. As he did so, he gave a sideways glance as if to see how she would react to his ordering something marinated in fire whiskey. Cassie tried to have a casual look on her face because she felt it really was none of her business what Fred or George ordered. Obviously, Fred must like the taste of the Ogden's Fire Whiskey more than he professed, or he wouldn't be ordering that dish. She did wonder fleetingly whether she would be like Hermione and not like the taste of the whiskey when kissing George later. Well, assuming they were able to kiss . . . but she couldn't imagine that he wouldn't try to kiss her again. The day had been going so well, and . . .

Cassie's thoughts were interrupted by the realization that all eyes were on her. She realized she hadn't ordered and hadn't even really thought about what she wanted. She glanced frantically over the menu muttering that she had no idea what to select. George suggested Horklump and wild leek salad, but Cassie was definitely not impressed with horklumps. She had decided against of the exotic food at all and had almost decided just to go with fried chicken or shepherd's pie when Hermione leaned over and suggested roasted diricawl, explaining it tasted like roasted duck. That sounded good and Cassie quickly ordered, asking for an extra helping of the peas and carrots that accompanied the dish.

They all ordered steaming mugs of butterbeer to go with the food. Zensa finished writing the orders, smiled again at Fred and then walked out of the room, shutting the door. Fred watched her very carefully with a satisfied expression. The others were watching Fred watch Zensa. Hermione cleared her throat in an exasperated way. "Don't you have a date with Angelina Johnson tonight?"

It seemed to take a moment for Fred to focus his attention on Hermione. "What? Yeah. We're going to the Ministry party."

"Well then," Hermione said in her head-girl voice, "maybe you shouldn't be staring so intently at our waitress as she walks out of the room." 

The others around the table started to laugh and Cassie asked, "Is this the same girlfriend who was angry with you few weeks or so ago?"

Fred turned brick red, a color that contrasted strongly with the color of his hair. "Well, yes. But that's all settled now."

"Not if she finds out you've been ogling the waitress," Cassie said with a mischievous grin. Fred groaned and the others burst out laughing.

Ginny brought the conversation back to the party that evening. "So, are Mum and Dad going to this fancy party at the Ministry?"

"As a matter of fact, they are."

Both Ginny and Ron looked surprised. Ron, with his usual subtle manner, asked the question that Ginny was probably too polite to ask. "Dad hates these things. Mum always says everyone stares at them because she wears the same dress she wore last year and the year before that. Why are they going to this thing?" 

"She got a new dress this year. I think she wants to show it off. And Dad was told in no uncertain terms by Nightscall that all department heads had to go. So, what choice did he have?" Cassie started in surprise. 

"Is that Saffron's dad?" Ginny nodded. 

"He's a pompous git, but it's best not to aggravate one's boss too badly." 

"He's hardly Dad's boss. He's just another quill-pushing Fudge flunky. But you're right about his being a pompous git. As if Deputy Minister of Magic is that critical of a job." George looked disgusted. "Sometimes, I just wish we could hex the whole lot out of existence and start over." 

"Oy, George," Ron said with a grin on his face, "who are you taking to the party tonight?"

George cleared his throat uncomfortably and Cassie found herself suddenly interested in studying the lion crest on the china. "Well, actually, I'm not taking a date tonight. The girl I wanted to take was not available." 

Just then, the door opened and Zensa entered, carrying a large tray of elegantly displayed dishes of very exotic looking food. She was followed by a house elf carrying 12 large shish-kebab skewers. As Zensa placed platters in front in front of the others around the table, the elf arranged the shish-kebabs on large platters and then lit the skewers on fire. There were oohs and aahs from everyone else seated around the table as the elf put the flaming food in front of the two older boys. After a minute or so, the flames died out and Cassie looked down at her own dish. The elf and the waitress then placed a steaming mug in front of each of them and Cassie reached for hers. She was really thirsty. She thought she knew what to expect with the butterbeer as she had had it before. But Ron was right. It tasted totally different when it was warm. Very good. She took another long drink, then put the mug down and decided it was time to eat. Cassie was very impressed with how nice the roasted diricawl looked. It appeared to be about the size of a large Cornish game hen and she poked it experimentally with her fork. The skin was crispy and it's appearance did remind her quite a bit of the roasted duck her family often got at Chinese restaurants. There was silence for several minutes as everyone eagerly began eating.

The first noise that broke the satisfied silence was Hermione exclaiming how hot and spicy the soup was. She would take a sip of her butterbeer and then eagerly sip another spoonful of soup, only to again fan her mouth and reach for her butterbeer again. After a few minutes, she offered a spoonful to Ron, who eyed it dubiously but tried it. His eyes got big and then he grabbed for his butterbeer. "Uh. That's good. Really good. Should have got that." But his attempt to sound unaffected by the spicy soup was ruined as he coughed and yelped at the renewed heat in his mouth. He grabbed his butterbeer again and took a long drink. Cassie was enjoying her food and listened casually to the conversation around her as she cut and chewed her wonderful diricawl. Every so often, Cassie would look over at George to see how he was enjoying his food. Once or twice, she looked, only to see his golden-brown eyes looking intently back at her. She would blush, give a little smile and go back to eating. Part way through the dinner, she felt a gentle tug on her elbow and looked at George. He smiled at her. "Would you like to have a bite of my clabbert-kabob?"

Cassie hesitated for a moment. "Is it good?" He nodded. "Has all of the alcohol burned off?" George grinned and nodded yes. Fred tried to stifle a chuckle. Cassie blushed and tried to explain. "I promised my mum I'd be careful. Mr. Weasley mentioned how the students like to go to the Three Broomsticks and drink butterbeer . . . . My mum was worried about that." 

"It's good you listen to your mother. She's just worried about you being so far from home and everything, I'm sure." All six of the others, including Cassie, looked at him in disbelief. She had heard enough George and Fred escapades to know that he was probably one of the least obedient of all his brothers when he was growing up. He obviously noticed the looks of incredulity because he grinned. "Well, some kids have to be obedient to their parents or this whole parent-child thing wouldn't work now, would it? I mean, at least we have Cassie and Hermione to carry on where the Weasley clan has obviously failed miserably . . ." Both Hermione and Cassie flushed while the everyone else broke out laughing at his explanation. 

"Now," said George, as he stabbed a piece of meat and some different colored peppers with the prongs of his fork, "how about a taste, Cassie?" She smiled and took a taste. She was pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was. She could not really differentiate between the flavors of the meat, peppers, spices and Fire Whiskey and wondered if she would find the whiskey as offense as Hermione did if she were to taste it separately. 

The lunch continued amidst happy banter for several more minutes until Cassie noticed George bump Fred with his elbow and they gave each other a meaningful look. Fred cleared his throat loudly and the others turned and looked at him. "I think it's time we discussed Draco Malfoy. We're in a private room, so we can speak openly."

George looked at Cassie apologetically. Ginny set her fork down and spoke up. "Pia, I mean, Cassie, I'll be happy to go out for a few minutes with you if you're too uncomfortable to be in here while . . ."

"No." Cassie interrupted, "I'm okay now. I think I can manage." She gave a sideways glance at George and he gently took her hand in his under the table.

"Well," Ginny began, "I think we should start with Cassie's first day at school. The day went pretty well and then that evening Malfoy sauntered over to our table to meet her and it was obvious he was checking her out. He couldn't take his eyes off of her." Cassie felt her cheeks getting warmer and wondered if she had made the right decision to stay in the room. "Anyway," Ginny continued, "the next day, after the Quidditch match, he again came up to Cassie and was obviously trying to flirt with her. Right, Hermione?" The older girl nodded. 

"It was a pathetic attempt," Cassie interjected, remembering how he had insulted her and her new friends. "Considering he comes from a supposedly wealthy, powerful family, the guy has no social skills. I'd feel sorry for him if he wasn't so repulsive."

Hermione looked thoughtful. "Well, he hasn't had to use social skills when it's come to girls. As far as I know, he's only dated Slytherin girls and they are more than happy to put up with his obnoxious behavior because of who and what he is."

They were interrupted when Zensa came into the room smiling. "I hope the meal was good." They all made murmuring noises in appreciation as she continued. "Will you be having dessert?"

Fred and George looked at each other. "Well," Fred began, "I think the . . ."

"Absolutely," George cut in. "You're mum's desserts are always delicious. I think we'll have your special assorted pastries. And, I think coffee for everyone should round it out nicely. Cassie grimaced. She didn't mind coffee, but she would have preferred cocoa. However, after the earlier discussion about the alcohol, she decided asking for cocoa would make her seem even more childish, so she just decided she would use a lot of sugar and cream. Zensa left the room, returing shortly with a large tray of exotic-looking pastries which Cassie didn't recognize. She was followed by the same house elf carrying a tray on which were balanced a coffee pot, cream, sugar, cups, saucers, and assorted other items. After the other dishes had been cleared and the pastries and coffee served, Zensa left the room. Fred got up, took out his wand and sealed the door.

"Now we can talk without fear of being heard or interrupted."

Ginny continued explaining. "Malfoy kept popping up whenever he thought Cassie was alone. And sometimes when she wasn't. He accosted her on Tuesday after Transfiguration and then again on Wednesday. That day, he actually had the nerve to ask her to go to the Astronomy Tower with him." Cassie felt George's hand tighten at the mention of the Astronomy Tower. "And he wasn't exactly willing to take no for an answer. We were in the library together working on an essay. She got up to retrieve a book and I guess he followed her. When she didn't come back, I went looking for her and there he was pressed right up against her, bold as brass. He had taken her wand and was really making her feel threatened. I chased him off and he gave her wand back, but I, at least, was scared." Cassie nodded. It had been scary. 

Cassie heard George curse under his breath and Fred let out a low whistle. Cassie was humiliated, but knew it was going to get worse. George sat red-faced and silent as Fred continued. "This was Wednesday? Things have gotten worse since then? What else could he have done?" 

"You wouldn't believe the audacity of ferret-boy. He really is convinced that Cassie is madly in love with him . . . or at least that's what he wants all of Slytherin house to believe. I think it's just a matter of pride, now." Ron made a noise of disgust as he finished this statement. "We all realized just how bad things were when Harry overheard a conversation last night." 

Harry cleared his throat. He was already blushing and not looking at Cassie. He recited what he had overheard in the Slytherin common room, trying to get through it as quickly as possible. Cassie stared at the table during the whole thing, amazed at how warm the room had become. 

When he was done, George swore. And Cassie could tell he was shaking with anger. "I'll kill him." He started to get up. "I'll hunt him down right now and kill him." Fred pushed George back down into his seat. "You can't do it, George. Mind you, I'd like to help."

"I would, too," Harry agreed, and, for the first time since this discussion had begun, he looked Cassie in the eyes. She could see him asking her for forgiveness in his eyes and she knew he was blaming himself for her even being in this situation. 

"Anything anyone else does to him, no matter how well deserved, is not really going to solve the problem. I need to make him frightened to approach me, even when I'm alone." 

"Cassie's right." Hermione was looking thoughtful. "What we need to do is make him afraid of her so he won't bother her for the rest of the week she's here at Hogwarts. That's where you two come in. We thought you might have some ideas. After all, if the two biggest pranksters in the entire history of Hogwarts can't figure out some trick to play on Draco Malfoy - well, I think you'd have to close down your shop in disgrace." Fred just grinned. 

"I'm sure we can think of something. So, how exactly have you been fooling everyone into thinking you're a witch, Cassie? Because it seems to me that we might use the same techniques to finally get Draco off your back."

"Um, well . . . it wasn't just one thing, really. I guess to sum it up, someone else would do the magic, but I would pretend it was me, and everyone just assumed it was." 

"Okay. That makes sense. Could we do that for some sort of hex on Malfoy?"

Hermione piped up. "We could . . ." Cassie just glared across the table at her. 

"No."

"But this time, I would purposely be out to hex him." 

"No. You got me into more trouble last time than I was in before." George was looking in confusion from one girl to the other. 

"Fine." Hermione looked slightly miffed but Ron patted her arm and she looked somewhat mollified. George looked at Cassie with a question in his eyes, but she ignored it. She didn't want to discuss the polyjuice potion right now. They were not doing that again. Ever. 

"I think our best bet," Fred said, looking around the group, "is Ginny's little treat. The bat bogey hex." Everyone shuddered. "He's been hit with it before and if the threat isn't enough to scare him off, than a little reminder would not be out of line." 

"I am dying to know what exactly this hex is. I mean, I know what a bat is, and I know what a bogey is. But I can't figure out how you have a, um, bat bogey. I didn't even know bats had noses." Cassie thought this was a legitimate question, but it took everyone else about five minutes to stop laughing after she asked it. It was Harry who finally was able to cough out a reply between fits of hysterical laughter. 

"It's not bogeys from bats . . . it's bogeys acting like bats." Cassie thought about that for about 30 seconds. 

"Oh. So you mean they . . . fly around? That does sound gross." 

"They fly around . . . and roost . . . on you."

"Oooh! Is that as disgusting as it sounds?" 

"Worse. You don't even know what's on you . . . and you don't want to find out." 

"I think we need to do a test run, here. See what Ginny looks like as she casts the hex, see if we can figure out some way for Cassie to imitate it. So we need a victim." Everyone looked at everyone else. No one volunteered. George looked around again, hoping that someone would step forward to help with his plan. Total silence. George looked at Harry. "She's your girlfriend." Harry grimaced. 

"Exactly. That was done intentionally. She's less likely to cast one in my direction." 

"I wouldn't be too sure of that." But Ginny laughed and Harry hugged her. Everyone smiled at their gentle teasing except George. 

"Come on, you pansies. It'll only be for a minute." When still no one stepped forward, he groaned. "Fine. Do it on me. But make it quick." He stood and walked away from the table. Harry and Ron applauded. Fred bowed in mock reverence. "And you all better be paying attention. One time only. Watch carefully! I mean it!" Ginny waved her wand with mock threat and Ron beat out a drumroll on the table. Fred saluted now, as if watching George go to his execution. Ginny muttered some complicated word that Cassie could not understand and a second later George was trying very hard not to sound like a girl. "Get them off me, get them off me!" Ginny let them stay for a moment so Cassie could see that they were just as revolting as she was beginning to suspect. Then they were gone, but Cassie wanted to hug George. He had done that for her. "Oh! I need a shower. A very long, very hot shower. Someone, please. Scourgify me!" Fred waved his wand and George relaxed a little bit. 

"Okay. What does it look like?" He sat back down, shuddering slightly as he looked around at the group. 

"I don't think we can pull it off." Hermione leaned back in her chair. "It's those blasted beams of light. When the spells have them, you can always tell what wand they're coming from. Cassie's doesn't send out any coloured light and someone else's wand from across the room does. It won't work. So even if Ginny was standing right next to her, which we cannot count on, if the wand were in her pocket or anything, it would be obvious it was Ginny casting the spell rather than the dead-looking wand Cassie was holding." 

"So there was a beam of light?" 

"Yeah. A yellow-greenish thing. Gross, really. Appropriate for the hex." Hermione shrugged. "It can't be faked." 

"But what if both girls did it together? Ganged up on him, so to speak?" Ron looked at George in amazement. 

"Are you missing the whole point about her being a Muggle? Because she's not going to be able to do the hex. Hasn't living with Dad taught you anything?"

"Well, obviously, Ron, she can't really do the hex . . . but if her wand looked like it was putting out a beam of yellowish light, and Ginny's really was. . . and they both hit him . . . and he got hexed . . .is he really going to analyze it?" 

Harry was nodding. "Brilliant, George. I think I see where you're going with this." 

Fred took up the narration which surprised Cassie as this was sort of a think-on-your feet situation and they hadn't discussed it yet between the two of them. Maybe it was that twin thing again. "So, what we need is a wand that, on cue, shoots forth a beam of yellow light. I think we can handle that. In fact, it should be fairly easy." Fred and George stood up together. "Let us confer together in privacy for a moment." Everyone rolled their eyes but the twins walked over to one of the divans and stood there talking seriously. Cassie watched George, trying not to be too obvious about it. She nodded and smiled appropriately as the conversation went on around her, but she didn't hear a word of it. About three minutes later, George and Fred came back over to the table. 

"We've got an idea that should work. We just need a few materials. I'm going to apparate over to Zonko's and get them, so I'll be back in a minute." He unsealed the door and went outside. George sealed it up again behind him. 

"Why didn't he just disapparate from in here?" Cassie asked. 

"Most stores and restaurants have anti-disapparition charms in place to cut down on, uh, theft." George grimaced as he answered her. "Sad to say that there are people like that everywhere." Cassie nodded. She hadn't even thought of that. It would be rather difficult to keep people from just picking up merchandise and leaving with it or eating a meal and then leaving without bothering to pay. She felt a little sad to think about it. To have such wonderful abilities and then to use them to trick or hurt others seemed a waste to her. And yes, she knew that George operated a joke shop, but that wasn't the same thing. She hadn't even finished that thought when a knock on the door echoed through the room. George unsealed the door from his seat and Fred slipped inside, holding a small shopping bag and grinning broadly, sealing the door behind him. 

"I got everything we'll need. Had to talk them into giving me my own dang wand cheap, though." And he reached into the bag and pulled out a wand. Cassie recognized that it was one of the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes trick wands, though it was not quite the same as the one she had used to fool Professor McGonagall. George stood up and joined his brother. 

"Great. Why don't we work over there?" They stepped over to the mini-bar and stowed all the bottles and containers underneath it, leaving them a large clear area to work in. The rest of the group finished the pastries and coffee. Cassie felt a little bit guilty as she bit into another delicious dessert. She had eaten way too much of heavy, rich food this week. It was a wonder that her school uniform still fit. After a minute, George approached her again, squatting down by her chair. "I think our fake wands would work for you, Muggle or not, but I want to try something with you to make sure." 

"You don't need to do that. They do work, really well. I used one to fool Professor McGonagall in class on Tuesday. It was one of your dragon ones - that's how Ron sold those five wands after class." 

"Oh, yeah! I'd forgotten about that. Listen, some time when we have more time I want to sit and hear every detail of this last week. I cannot imagine McGonagall putting up with your using one of our trick wands." She nodded. "It shouldn't take too much longer and then you and Ginny can test it, okay?" She nodded again. There was a series of loud bangs. Ron looked over at what Fred was doing. 

"Hey, Fred . . . do you have to make that light stream yellow? What if you make it green and Cassie can just scare the crap out of Malfoy. A little Avada Kedavra . . . he keels over in fright . . . and a lot more than Cassie's problem is solved. Then, when they put her on trial and find out she's a Muggle, there's no way they could convict her of using an Unforgiveable curse." George squeezed Cassie's hand but smiled. 

"That is tempting, but I don't think so. We'll stick with yellow." He stood up and joined Fred again. Cassie looked at Ginny across the table. 

"Do you think this will work?"

"Sure. Why not? Everyone believes you're a powerful witch. They know I've been doing this curse for three years and it makes sense that I would teach you. And after an entire week of practice, you're getting pretty good at faking it. It'll work. I'm sure of it. And Fred and George will make sure the wand looks authentic." Cassie wished she had Ginny's confidence. But she did trust George and Fred so if they said they could make a wand that looked like it was shooting yellow light, then they could. 

What George had said would be a few minutes stretched into 10 and Cassie was starting to wonder if there was a problem. Finally, though, they must have deemed it done right because they both came back over to the table. "We've got it. It will react to the hex incantation. See?" And Fred repeated the words Ginny had said earlier and the wand shot a stream of yellow light across the room. "The light is harmless of course, but when it mixes with Ginny's hex, it'll work great." 

Ginny and Cassie both stood up. "Let's practice for a minute." They practiced synchronizing their movements for a few minutes and then they were ready for everyone to watch. "Okay, everyone. Watch and see if this looks realistic." Everyone clapped when they were done. 

"That was great!" George grinned. "I can see how you managed at Hogwarts for a week. You two are really good." Both girls bowed again and again as everyone laughed and applauded. Suddenly, everyone had flowers which they tossed at the girls like they had just finished a star performance on the stage. "Bravo! Bravo!" 

There was a tentative knock on the door and Hermione immediately vanished all the flowers and everyone else sat down at the table and tried to look relaxed like they had been sitting there the whole time. Fred opened the door to a rather bemused looking Zensa. "Hi. Sorry about the sealing charm." He didn't explain further but he did smile at her in a very flirtatious way, a smile she happily returned. 

"Were the pastries good?"

"Delicious as ever, Zensa. Thank you. Our compliments." The waitress held out the bill. "I'll take that." Fred held out his hand, took the bill, and looked at it. He got a very shocked look on his face and clutched his chest. "Oh, Merlin! We can't afford this!" Cassie had a momentary feeling of panic before she realized he was kidding, although when George and he pulled out their money bags to pay the galleons, she realized just how expensive the meal had been. They left the waitress a generous tip, commenting that they had monopolized her room long enough. Cassie also supposed there was an extra fee for the room as she was positive that even if all of them had ordered the most expensive thing on the menu it wouldn't have added up to the amount of money Fred and George handed the waitress. 

George accio'd all the robes over from the divan, handing them out to their respective owners. Cassie's was last and he held it out to her but then smiled and indicated that he would help her slip it on. She flushed slightly but lifted her right arm. He slid the heavy winter robe up over her shoulder and then helped her with the other sleeve. She did up the clasps and picked up her bag. She hated to leave this room because she had felt more comfortable, happy, and relaxed here than she had ever since that Wednesday a week ago that seemed to belong to a different lifetime. But before she knew it, they were headed back down the long corridor, past the Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin rooms, and past the ugly house-elf statue at the front door and out into the street. It was almost 3:00, and the quality of the light was already diminishing. It would be dark before another two hours had passed, and Cassie realized with a sinking feeling that her day with George was almost over. 


	40. The Incident at Honeyduke's

Chapter 40  
Incident at Honeyduke's  
  
They all stood outside adjusting their eyes to the brightness of the sun reflecting off of the snow layered on the sloping roofs and piled against the various buildings. They pulled their robes up around their necks against the brisk wind. Even with the wind, it was a beautiful day and they were enjoying again being out in the sunlight and amongst the hustle and bustle of the little village. They looked around at each other. "Honeyduke's then?" Ron asked, taking Hermione's hand. Everybody but Ron and Cassie groaned.   
  
"I'm too full."   
  
"Not yet."  
  
"How can you even think about sweets right now?"   
  
"How about five minutes between eating frenzies?"   
  
Harry was grinning but he was the only one who didn't say anything; well, besides Cassie who had no idea what to expect at Honeyduke's. Ron scowled at his siblings. "You promised that we could go after we ate lunch. Now you're welching out on your promise. If we don't go now we may not go at all. I don't want to go to any more sappy jewelry or book stores." Hermione turned her head and gave him a dirty look, which Ron completely ignored.   
  
"I want to go to Honeyduke's, too. Their chocolate is really good." Cassie definitely did not want to miss going to the candy store as that had been the one place she had been sure she could find some sort of gifts for her family.   
  
Ron smirked. "See? Let's go."   
  
But Hermione and Ginny were adamant. "We can walk around for a few minutes before we go there. We still have more than an hour before we need to start heading back to the castle."   
  
"Walk around where? That sounds boring."   
  
"Oh, stop sulking. I promise we will go to Honeyduke's, Ron. Let's just walk around for a while." Hermione led off and for a few minutes they sort of drifted without any plan. Then Cassie asked a question that she had been wondering about the entire day.   
  
"Isn't the Shrieking Shack somewhere in Hogsmeade?" That seemed to breathe new life into the group and as one, they all spoke up.  
  
"Yeah. Let's go see it." They walked a few more feet and then turned onto a side road that led up a small hill.   
  
"How do you know about the Shrieking Shack?" George asked as they walked along. She grimaced, but before she could explain, Hermione jumped into the conversation.   
  
"Harry had the absolutely ridiculous idea that they are going to have Pia live there after she leaves Hogwarts."   
  
"It's not an absolutely ridiculous idea, Hermione. The more I've thought about it, the more convinced I am that I'm right."   
  
"Harry, you are out of your mind! They are not going to put Pia in that horrid place!" Hermione retorted. Cassie looked with a slightly panicked expression at George, hoping he could offer some sort of insight, but he was just looking confused.   
  
"What are you talking about?"   
  
"When term is over next week, she has to go somewhere. Dumbledore mentioned some sort of safe place . . ."  
  
"Yeah! That has to be gotten ready for her! That's what makes me so convinced it's here. They're fixing it up a bit." Harry shrugged. "It's perfect, really." Hermione ignored his outburst and continued with her explanation.  
  
"That they needed to get ready. But they didn't say anything about major construction, Harry! They just said the wards needed to be strengthened. And she's worried about where they'll be sending her. So we were suggesting a few places . . . you know, the obvious safe places . . ." George nodded briefly "but none of them seemed like they were quite right. And then Harry suggested . . ."  
  
"I'm right, Hermione. I'm sure I'm right."   
  
"Ron. You've been inside. Tell, Harry there is no way they would ever put Pia in there by herself." Cassie heard the friendly bickering but was starting to be extremely concerned. It must be horrible and Harry was so convinced he was right. Maybe he was. Then they crested the hill and Cassie grabbed without thinking onto George's arm. It was worse than she ever could have imagined. Calling it a shack was actually being a little too optimistic. The place looked like it was held up by spit and hope. She never even heard Ron's answer. She just stood there staring at the most ramshackle, decrepit-looking, collection of worm-infested wood she had ever seen.   
  
"Would they really expect me to live in there?"   
  
"Everyone already thinks it's haunted. So if she made any noise, no one would think anything of it." Harry presented that piece of information like it answered all the questions and settled the argument. It didn't make Cassie feel any better.   
  
"Pia," Fred finally contributed something to the discussion. "I'm positive they're not going to put you in the Shrieking Shack!" Cassie just stood there, staring down at the building. She finally found her voice.   
  
"Can I look inside?"  
  
"No. No doors. See? That makes it even better. She comes through the tunnel from Hogwarts and no one would ever even be able to come in and find her. But if Dumbledore wants to check on her . . ."  
  
"Enough, Harry!" George was scowling. "You're scaring her." Cassie didn't want to sound like an idiotic boob, but she honestly thought she might faint.   
  
Hermione looked at George with narrowed eyes. "You two are privy to Order business now. Have you heard any rumors about where they are going to send her?"  
  
Fred and George looked at each other, and even Cassie, who was still reeling from the idea of staying here, by herself, over Christmas, could tell that they were sending silent messages to each other. It was Fred that answered Hermione's question.   
  
"No. They haven't told us anything. But they certainly aren't going to put her here. I can promise that."  
  
"You do know." Hermione stated this without question.  
  
"No." Fred met her eyes squarely, but Cassie remembered that both of the twins were very good liars. "But I thought you said the wards had to be 'strengthened' and this place isn't warded."   
  
"It could be warded. It's hard to believe they would have left Remus here without wards of some kind. The building itself wouldn't have kept him in." Harry spoke up again and Ginny elbowed him, whirling on him like a dervish.   
  
"Harry James Potter! You are doing this on purpose! What are you trying to do?"  
  
"What are you talking about? . . . I'm just trying to offer a suggestion. It's not like any of your ideas have been much better." Cassie looked at Harry, uncertain what to make of his comments. He had always been so considerate of her and this seemed totally unlike him. Suddenly, like it was written in the sky above his head, she realized what he was doing and she relaxed. She didn't say anything but she knew for a fact that he didn't really believe she would be sent here. Maybe he had thought it once, but no longer. Even if he didn't admit it to himself, he was still angry about his exile this past summer and, seeing the unmistakable parallels between himself and Cassie, he was taking out all his frustration on her, trying to upset her. And he was probably doing it without even knowing it. She didn't blame him. The sight of his house laying in ruins after they had left pushed its way to the front of her memory and she inhaled deeply. She just hoped that wherever she was sent, it was not somewhere Fidelius charmed. She just didn't trust that kind of magic.   
  
Ginny and Harry were still arguing as were Ron and Hermione. Cassie decided it was time to put an end to this before it ruined the entire day. "It's okay, Ginny, Hermione. I'm sure I won't be sent here. So, let's just look closer. What's this about Remus?" The whole story about Remus as a student and then inevitably the story of what had happened here at the end of Harry's third year was told over the next 20 minutes as they looked around the abandoned building and grounds and tried to peak in the grimy windows. George and Fred even asked some questions as apparently they had never heard the whole narrative of what sounded to Cassie like an insane evening and night. She didn't understand everything, but she didn't ask too many questions. She was just grateful they had moved away from the subject of where she was going to be staying. She would prefer not to think about it anymore today. She just wanted to enjoy being with George. There would be time enough later to worry about that.   
  
And strange as it sounded considering her earlier fears, she did enjoy the time there with him. He touched her constantly, taking her hand as he led her around the building, putting his arms around her as she strained to get high enough to look in a window, even sneaking a soft kiss when everyone else was around the far side of the Shack looking at the site of what Harry laughingly called "Ron's throwing a snowball at Malfoy" in third year. By mutual unspoken agreement, their touches were brief. She wasn't sure, really, why she was reluctant to announce to Harry, Ron, and Hermione that she liked George in a romantic way. The initial reason, that he would not want anything more to do with her when he found out she was a Muggle, was obviously no longer standing in the way. But she somehow felt it would cause problems. Maybe it was Harry. After all, it hadn't been that long ago that they had been snogging passionately on his couch. Maybe it was fear of Hermione's thinking she was just a tramp, moving too quickly from one boy to another. Maybe it was preferring to avoid Ron's teasing her about having a crush on his brother. She didn't know what George thought, either. She definitely was not ashamed of him or embarrassed to be with him. She thought he was wonderful. But something held her back. Maybe it was just the knowledge that their entire relationship could only be temporary and she didn't want everyone feeling sorry for her when it was over. It would be bad enough with just Ginny. Assuming she ever saw them again after she left Hogwarts. But she forced a smile onto her face and turned to the boy who had not been more than three feet from her the entire day. She laid her hand on his arm.   
  
"This whole day has been so wonderful. Thank you for taking the time to be here with me. I know there was no real market research. You came just to see me." He smiled and looked around quickly. Then his arm sneaked around her waist.   
  
"You're right. But you don't need to thank me. I'd do it again tomorrow if I could. It's been a great day. I was so nervous that you'd take one look at me and laugh at the idea that we could really be, you know, together. Or tell me I was too forward in my letters. I know we hadn't really had a chance to be together that much in the Alley or anything." He let go of her and looked down at his boots, which she now knew were dragon-hide as Fred had announced that to the entire group when Ron had stepped on one with muddy feet. "And you're so pretty. And I'm not." Despite the obvious sincere emotions behind this speech, Cassie couldn't help herself. She giggled.   
  
"You were worried I wouldn't think you were pretty?" He barked out a laugh and looked up at her again.   
  
"You know what I mean." The others came around again to the front of the Shack, Ron leading the way.   
  
"We've gotta go now. As it is, they might be sold out of all the good stuff." Hermione resolutely followed behind him, but her face had a rather pinched, worried look and once Cassie saw Harry and Ginny, she realized why. Harry was pale and sweating slightly. Ginny looked like she was torn between helping him keep up the facade of normalcy or insisting that he go back to Hogwarts immediately. A small argument ensued as Harry rested for a few moments on a patch of rather soggy-looking grass that Hermione cleared the snow from. Hermione and Ginny wanted to let Professor Dumbledore know immediately about Harry's scar hurting so badly. Ron and Harry just kept insisting that they only had another hour to enjoy the break from school and they wanted to stay. The pain faded after a few more minutes and everyone finally agreed that since the day was so close to ending they may as well go to Honeyduke's. "After all," Ron rationalized as he helped Harry up, "chocolate is good for whatever ails you."  
  
Cassie and George fell in line behind the procession to Honeyduke's, Fred looking back and joining them as they approached the main part of the town again. Neither of said anything as they walked. Finally, she decided she did need to acknowledge what he had said earlier, at least. "You don't need to worry about my not thinking you're handsome, George. I think you're great." She announced this right before they got back to the main street and he winked in response, which made her laugh. They walked the short distance up the street and went into Honeyduke's.  
  
The candy shop was a scene of semi-organized pandemonium as a room full of happy students moved, pushed, jostled and grabbed at various succulent looking merchandise. Cassie looked around in amazement at all of the different candies. There was a barrel full of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, and another of Fizzing Whizbees, which Cassie saw were levitating sherbert balls. There were shelves of multi-colored candies which promised to do various things like the peppermint creams shaped like toads which were supposed to hop in a person's stomach, Ice Mice which made a person's teeth chatter and squeak, and candies which made a person breathe fire. Cassie looked from the last candy to George who had been following her gaze. He grinned and whispered, "Yeah, they make you breathe fire. Kind of like the infamous Dragon Kisses. Did you like those Kisses? There are more where those came from." Cassie blushed beet red at the suggestive timber in his voice but she couldn't help smiling in response. In the chaos, she figured that no one would notice if they stood closer together and he apparently had the same thought, because his hand grasped hers and their fingers interlaced as they threaded through the shop.   
  
The rather harried-looking employees were trying desperately to keep the shelves stocked with the favorite items and even with magic it wasn't very easy. Then, on top of everything else, they had samples available in different areas of the store to introduce new items or advertise for some of their specialty Christmas items. These platters were filled only to be emptied moments later by grasping hands. Cassie didn't try everything, but she sampled a few candy canes which were flavored much differently than anything she had ever tried before. The butterbeer flavored ones were good although she liked the pumpkin-flavored ones the best. However, the orange color did not make her think of Christmas, so she decided she would buy the butterbeer ones. She also sampled some of the various filled chocolates, all of which were really good. George made suggestions and tried a few himself. She liked it best when he would try one and then give her the other bite of the chocolate. Maybe it was a little weird to like eating something he had already bitten into, but she liked it. She screwed up her courage when she bit into a particularly delicious caramel and then offered the other half to him. He took it, smiling down at her, and agreed with her that it was really wonderful. There was a really rich fudge also available for sampling, but they both just took a small piece of that and Cassie decided that she, at least, had had enough for the day.   
  
She really wanted to get some chocolates for her family. She knew her mother would certainly enjoy some of these and considering how she slowly ate a box of chocolates, a fairly decent-sized box would probably last her until Valentine's day. She also thought her brothers would enjoy getting some of the more unusual candies up for sale although she would have to be careful what she got. Truthfully, she had no idea how much her brothers knew about what was going on with her. She knew for a fact that her parents had not told them about magic and everything before she had come to Hogwarts. She was not sure they would have had reason to inform them by now and, of course, she couldn't really ask in any of the letters she had sent home. So, anything she bought would have to be strictly non-magic looking, no movement, no turning the boys colors, no moving packages. She thought about the Bertie Bott's, thinking those could easily just be passed off as strange Jelly Bellies, which were one of her brother's favorite treats, but when George explained that there was no way to guarantee normal flavors and thinking that her mother more than her brothers would be extremely disgusted if they got a vomit-flavored candy, she decided to pass. She noticed in passing Ron at one point that he had a huge pile of chocolate frogs.   
  
"Are those really frogs, George?" She indicated the shelf that they were stacked on as the two of them moved with a casual wave past Ron and Hermione.   
  
"No. They're just chocolates."  
  
"Do you think they'd be okay as a gift for someone who doesn't know about magic?"  
  
"Yes. . . . they should be fine. The frogs don't actually move and the packaging is fairly straightforward." She picked up four of them, considering the cost and deciding that she could afford them. But then, "Oh, Pia. I'm an idiot. I forgot. These definitely wouldn't do. Inside each frog is a wizard trading card. And they are wizarding pictures, moving all the time." Her eyes got big and she put the four frogs back. That could have been a bad situation if the boys went around the neighborhood showing their friends. She moved on, finally settling on large lollipops for each of them, very similar to things that they had gotten at fairs in the past. These were larger, and according to George, very good.   
  
Cassie turned a little and saw in a corner of the store a sign which read UNUSUAL TASTES. Cassie wondered what those candies included. "Let's go over there," she said, pointing.   
  
George made a frown. "I don't think you're going to find anything over there you'll want to eat." Even so, they moved in that direction as with a shrug George followed and Ron and Hermione, who had been looking at a selection of exploding bonbons, joined them.  
  
"Hey, Pia," Ron said with a grin, "If you select anything from this corner, I will definitely wonder about you." Cassie looked at Ron with a puzzled expression until she started to look at some of the products. There were Cockroach Clusters, which Cassie was pretty sure included real cockroaches, honey-coated flies and other disgusting types of candy. However, it was the tray of blood-flavored lollipops that Cassie stopped and stared at. She turned to the other three.   
  
"Wha - what are these for?"  
  
"Well, I'm pretty sure they're for vampires. I can't imagine who else would want them." Ron shrugged casually.   
  
Cassie looked at him in shock and then turned to George to see if he was laughing. Surely Ron was just teasing her. However, George was not laughing. Instead, he had a rather chagrined look. "You don't have to worry, Swee- Pia. Vampires don't come out in the day, of course. These are sold purely by mail order or as gifts."   
  
"Are, are you saying that vampires really exist?"  
  
"Sure. I've never met one. But Bill has. He says they're rather, um, scary. And for Bill to say that . . . . ugh."  
  
"You know, I will never have to watch scary movies in the future to get my chills and thrills. All I have to do is think of the 'interesting' things I've seen and heard in the wizarding world. That will keep me up at nights shaking in my bed."  
  
Hermione chuckled in agreement, but both George and Ron had puzzled expressions. George spoke first. "Uh, movies are those things where Muggles watch funny scenes on a wall. Right?"   
  
Hermione rolled her eyes. "George, we need to get you and your brothers out into the Muggle world a little more often. I honestly don't know how, with your father being who he is, you sometimes are still so culturally retarded." Ron looked indignant, but Hermione kissed him to make up for the slight insult and he seemed a lot happier.   
  
Hermione pulled Ron toward the selection of Sugar Quills, while Cassie and George turned to the rows and rows of delicious-looking chocolates. As she approached the display, Fred called George's name and he turned to talk to his twin. Cassie continued to look at the chocolates and was impressed to see the various flavors and designs, trying to remember which ones she had sampled and which ones she had liked. Some of the chocolates were shaped into cauldrons, wands, broomsticks and even magical beasts like unicorns and phoenixes. There were boxes of chocolates already assembled and wrapped, or there were empty boxes that you could fill with only the chocolates you wanted. She examined everything carefully. She had learned that it was never safe to assume that you knew what something was without looking carefully at the label when you were dealing with wizards. In one corner, she saw something that really caught her eye. It was a chocolate miniature Quidditch set. Inside were 14 Firebolt broomsticks, 4 beaters, 2 black bludgers, one red quaffle and one tiny golden snitch. There were also 14 players, seven in red and seven in blue. These were all created out of chocolate and according to the box, each was a filled confection with a different flavor of insides. She carefully read over the flavorings to make sure there was nothing disgusting or gross. They were all just normal chocolate flavors and some of them were even available in the regular chocolates. On reading the box further, she saw that the pieces were charmed so that, if it was desired, the little players would fly on their brooms and actually play a game of Quidditch. Cassie giggled, thinking that this was a perfect gift for George. She just hoped that she would be there when he opened it. She stole a glance around to see if George was still visiting with Fred. Their heads were close together, discussing something or another.   
  
Cassie looked at the price of this set and then the price of the chocolates she wanted to get for her mum. She decided that if she still had money after selecting a gift for her mum, she would buy this as a surprise for George. She put it back on the shelf with a pang of regret and hoped that it was still there in a few minutes and that she would be able to afford it. She then moved over to get a closer look at the empty Christmas gift boxes. They came in a number of shapes, sizes, and themes and she wanted to make sure that she didn't make a bad choice. The one she finally selected had a beautiful Christmas/winter scene on the front of the box. It showed a wintery Hogsmeade with Honeyduke's in the center of the picture. Smoke was coming out of the chimneys and snow was falling. Cassie stared at the picture for a moment and grinned as she watched the snow flakes actually fall and the smoke actually rise into the air. Every so often, a horse-drawn sleigh would come into the picture and glide out the other side. The label, which changed colors, read "Honeyduke's Famous Chocolates" and underneath was printed, Established 1475. On the back was a notice which read, "To order a catalogue of our world-famous candies, send owl post to Hogsmeade." Cassie worked for quite a few minutes selecting the flavors of chocolates she thought her mum would enjoy and packed them carefully into the box. When it was full, she weighed it carefully on the scale provided and was pleased with the cost. She could definitely afford both gifts as well as the lollipops and still have enough left over for a few pieces of chocolate for herself. She eagerly selected some of the more delectable looking pieces and turned to see where George was. He had just extricated himself from his twin and apparently an old acquaintance and he, Ron and Hermione walked over to her.   
  
"Did you get everything you wanted?" He looked apologetic to have left her alone for so long, but she was actually pleased because otherwise she couldn't have managed to get the Quidditch set into her basket with his noticing.   
  
"Yes. Thanks. This has been lots of fun, but I think if I eat one more piece of chocolate today, I'm going to explode. I need to pay for these things."   
  
Cassie followed Ron (who had gotten yet another load of merchandise) and Hermione to the register. He was excitedly dumping his selections onto the counter as Hermione patiently stood by. Cassie smiled to herself as she watched them. She suspected Ron would be munching candy late into the evening and, although Hermione had made a few comments about her dentist parents not being happy with all of the candy, she thought Hermione would give in to Ron's cajoling and would also spend the evening tasting the various candies. Cassie looked down at the large gift package for her mum and was pleased. She was sure her mum would love the chocolates she had selected. The rich, delicious chocolate and the unique flavors were bound to keep her satisfied for a number of days after Christmas. Cassie stepped up to the register and paid for the two boxes of chocolates, as well as the chocolates and candy canes she had selected for herself, grateful that the bag the clerk handed her was thick and George would not be able to see through it. This was much too large to slip into her purse.   
  
Cassie turned and looked at George. Ron and Hermione had gone off again and Cassie didn't try to figure out where. She knew that their time here was almost gone. George smiled and pulled her to the side so the next customer could pay for their merchandise. "It's almost time for you to return to Hogwarts." Cassie nodded. She had a sinking feeling but did her best to keep the smile on her face. George took her by the hand commenting, "Follow me. I want to say a proper goodbye to you, and I can't really do it inside this chaos." Their fingers interlaced again as she let George lead her behind the counter and into a back room. Both stopped short as they came into a room of frenzied activity with people sorting and boxing various candies. George muttered under his breath and then said a little more loudly, "We'll just go out the back way and then we can meet the others around front." They exited the store and George immediately pulled Cassie over against the side of the building. "Next time I want to spend time with you, remind me not to do it where there are so many people around."   
  
She smiled and he must have taken this as an invitation because he pulled her close and kissed her. This time, there was nothing tentative about his mouth at all. His lips were firm and hot and she held onto his shoulders because if she hadn't, she would have just collapsed. She kissed him back, too, almost frantic to absorb the feel of him against her so that she could recall it when she was alone again at school. His hands were firm on her hips and she could feel his fingers flexing even through the layers of her clothes. He pulled her even closer and she raised up on tiptoes to meet his mouth so that there was no question in his mind of whether she wanted this or not. They pulled away from each other for a second, breathing hard.   
  
It's been a fun day, though, hasn't it? Even with all the people?" She desperately wanted to know that he did not regret the day.  
  
"The best. Too bad we couldn't go to Loch Ness, but this was just about as good." They were both leaning against the back wall of the store, staring across the alley. "I guess we probably don't have much time." He turned sideways to look at her though she didn't move. "Darn it, Pia, I can't stand the thought of leaving you here. I have no idea when I'll see you again. Or where." He raised his hand and cupped her face. She closed her eyes, wanting to block out the sudden rush of fear that threatened to swamp her.   
  
"Don't say that. Please. They'll have to let me tell someone where I am, won't they? And if I can only tell one person, it would be you. And then you could come visit me." She hoped her voice didn't sound as panicky to him as it did to her. She went to kiss him again, sliding her arms up around his neck and feeling grateful as he half lifted her to make it easier for their mouths to touch. As she got higher, she could look past his shoulder down the empty alley. She saw the back door open and looked with concern to see who was there. The sight that met her eyes scared her more than even the thought of her safehouse. Draco Malfoy's pointed face, framed by his blonde hair, was glaring at George's back. As he saw her, though, his eyes widened and she watched the play of emotions across his face. If she hadn't been so terrified, she would have found it fascinating. At first, he just looked surprised. Then, she could have sworn it changed to disgust. And finally, there was such an expression of unmistakable glee that it sent her stomach plunging to her toes. Anytime he was that happy about something, it undoubtedly meant something bad was going to happen.   
  
Cassie swore and grabbed George's arm. He looked at her in surprise and any other time Cassie would have been embarrassed. However, her mind was completely on Draco Malfoy. "Put me down. But don't turn around, please. Malfoy is watching us. He's seen me."  
  
"Malfoy!" He practically growled the name as he set her carefully back down on her feet. "I'm going to kill him. Slowly and painfully." She looked up at him with frightened eyes. She really wouldn't be able to stand it if he got in trouble for her. He must have reconsidered, because he did draw his wand out of his sleeve, but he didn't turn around. "I hoped I had gotten you out of the store before he saw you, but I was obviously wrong. Is he still there?" Cassie realized then that George had seen Draco in the store and had wanted to protect her. She would normally have kissed him thank you but now was not the time.   
  
"Yes. He's still standing in the doorway, but I think he's going to come back here." Her fingers tightened on his arm. She really was unsure what to expect. She trusted George, she really did, but Draco at this moment was an unknown quantity and if they dueled, she didn't know what would happen.   
  
"Don't worry." George whirled quickly, half yelling something that Cassie did not understand, and pointed his wand up at the roof above their heads. The stream of blue light that burst from the end of his wand was something Cassie was pretty sure she had never seen before. She had about half a second to wonder what he had done before the entire amount of melting snow and ice that was hanging on the store's roof started to slide down. Malfoy started as he heard the rumble but was unable to do anything as it caught the back of his head. He was knocked down by the avalanche and pushed face first into what she hoped was a very deep puddle of mud. His wand flew out of his hand and into the muddy slush of the alley. His entire upper body was quickly buried by the snow and ice and his lower body still stuck through the half open door. George grabbed her hand and dragged her to the side of the building, as they narrowly missed being buried by the expanding slide themselves. She heard Malfoy screaming curses that she was pretty sure his mum would not approve of and she realized with relief that he was not dead. But he was certain to be very cold, wet, and muddy by the time someone dug him out and she couldn't help but laugh despite the seriousness of the situation.   
  
George smiled in response to her laugh. "I'm going to take that as my cue to leave. I hate to abandon you to that . . . idiot. Promise me you'll stay close to Ginny. She'll take care of you. She's a very powerful witch. Remember to do that hex on him. That'll scare him off for certain. And tell someone what happened here today, okay? Like Lupin or Dumbledore." He looked down at her and then kissed her one more time, hard and fast. "You can leave out the kissing, if you want to." She put her fingers up to her lips again, trying really hard not to cry. "Shhhh. Sweetheart. Don't cry, please. I'm sorry. I promise I'll write you. A nice long letter. First thing tomorrow, okay?" Her heart leapt at the endearment and she now wasn't sure whether to be happy or sad. It was very confusing, this starting to be in love. He took her hand again. "Come on. Let's meet the others. It will take a while to get him out of there, I think." They went around to the front of the store and saw Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ginny, sampling some of their purchases as they stood on the sidewalk. They were all facing away from them, though, so George made noises like they had just come out of the store. "That place is a madhouse. I'm going to order my stuff by owl, I think, next time." Fred joined them a minute later.   
  
"Well, Forge. I think we better be heading home. I've got to start making myself look beautiful for tonight." Cassie had a sudden shaft of cold penetrate her heart. He was going to that party tonight where there would be all sorts of beautiful girls. He would be dancing with people who were not her. But she bit her lip and shoved the pain to the back of her mind. He had wanted to take her. He wouldn't forget today that quickly. She could trust him.   
  
"You're right. We'd better go," he teased. "That could take a long time." He looked at his siblings and friends. "You take care of her. I mean it." They all shook hands and kissed goodbye to each other. Fred stepped in front of her and she looked up into his face, so similar but in a way so different from George's. Fred's cold lips pressed against Cassie's cheek and she kissed him back murmuring thanks for coming with George. Then it was just George and she closed her eyes for a minute, trying to prepare for the inevitable pain after this. He took her hand in his and squeezed it. "Goodbye, Pia. I'll see you soon, okay?" She knew he couldn't promise any such thing, but it did make her feel a little better. Then his lips met her cheek and she had to fight to not turn her head. She kissed his cheek back, enjoying the slight roughness of his five-o'clock shadow abrading her soft skin. He pulled back and his eyes met hers. It was as though they said everything to be said in that glance and then he was gone and she was just staring at the spot from where he had disapparated.


	41. After Hogsmeade

Chapter 41  
After Hogsmeade  
  
Cassie felt like she was floating as the group walked along the road that led back to the castle. The cold air didn't phase her because she felt warm all the way through. She kept replaying her time with George over and over again in her head. Ginny had given her a secretive smile as they had started back to the castle. "Don't worry. You'll see him again very soon, I imagine, even if he has to floo over to Hogsmeade and walk to the castle three times this week. I've never seen him like that before." Cassie had blushed but was thrilled at Ginny's comments.   
  
They turned the last corner before they could actually see the castle and Cassie suddenly felt her stomach drop through her toes. She stopped and stared in horrified agony at the remains of the castle. "Oh, no! Oh, NO! What happened? Oh, my God! Where is everyone? Are they all dead?" She looked frantically at Harry's face, trusting he would know what to do in the crisis. But instead of finding the calm resolution she was used to seeing in such situations, she saw a very confused and worried expression.   
  
"Are you all right, Pia?"   
  
"No! I'm not all right! Are you insane? Look!" But no one looked. They were all just staring at her.   
  
"Pia . . ." Hermione was speaking very slowly, like she thought Cassie had lost all touch with reality and didn't want to upset her. "What's wrong?"  
  
"The castle! It's been destroyed! Look at it!" Suddenly, much to her horror, they all laughed and she wondered if they were all Death Eaters just polyjuiced to look like her friends. Certainly the real Harry and Hermione wouldn't be laughing at this destruction and death that was in front of them.   
  
"I think the Muggle-repellant charms on the place are working, Pia. That's all. The castle is still there. Don't worry about it."   
  
"What?"   
  
"They haven't been working on you before, I guess. I kind of wondered why not." Harry was still looking amused at Cassie's horrified expression.  
  
Hermione apparently had thought of this before. "I figured it was because she was inside the spell. But I didn't think about her going outside it today when we went to Hogsmeade. Otherwise, we could have warned her or something." Cassie remembered vaguely Harry talking about these charms the first time she had come to the castle.   
  
"But, . . . but how can I get in? I can't see the castle anymore." She actually did believe what they said, although she wasn't sure if it would do her any good. Maybe now that she had left, she would never be able to get in again.   
  
"Look. Sometimes the biggest part of magic is just believing. I think if you get close to it and believe that it's there, you'll see it again." Cassie considered this for a moment.   
  
"Okay. That doesn't sound too hard." But as she started down the winding path from the gate toward the castle itself, her feet slowed until she once again came to dead standstill in the middle of the road. "I've got to go home. Something's wrong."  
  
Harry's expression clouded over again, but Hermione took Cassie firmly by the arm. "It's just the charm, Pia. Come on." She walked a few more steps, telling herself to walk forward toward the castle that she knew was actually there. But then she again had the horrible feeling that she needed to leave.   
  
"No, I've really got to go. My dog died, I think."  
  
"You don't have a dog, Pia. Remember, you're allergic." Harry looked very frustrated, like he didn't quite know what to do about her. He managed to coax her a few steps closer, but they were still at least 200 feet from the castle. Cassie planted her feet again. She didn't care what they said. She shouldn't be here. She needed to leave. Now.   
  
"There may be ghosts there. I can't go in there. It's dangerous." Her voice was low but intense and she actually managed to turn around on the road. But, then, she felt Ron's hand on her arm, restraining her. She tried to pull her arm out of his grip, but he was relentless.   
  
In a very loud voice, he stated, "I'm sorry that your ankle hurts so bad, Pia. We shouldn't have let you walk this far. Madam Pomfrey will want to see if it's sprained." And then, he just simply picked her up, cradling her in his arms like she was a baby. Cassie tried to get down. Obviously, Ron had lost his marbles. Her ankle didn't hurt. She needed to get away from here.   
  
Hermione pulled her wand out and Cassie wanted to hit it away. "Don't point that thing at me." But before she could even finish the sentence, she suddenly felt much calmer. Actually, Ron was plenty strong to carry her and she didn't care where he was taking her. She would be safe there, she was sure. Cassie relaxed in Ron's arms, snuggling against the warmth of his chest. She heard the others talking, but she didn't really register what they were saying. She heard Ron's heartbeat steady under her ear and she had the strange thought that she hoped Hermione wasn't jealous.   
  
She didn't remember much about the rest of the trip to the castle and it had the sort of unrealistic feeling of a dream when she tried to remember it later. Cassie remembered hearing Ron mention that even though she was pretty lightweight, it was going to be hard to carry her up all those flights of stairs to Gryffindor Tower. She heard Harry say he would carry her part of the way and then Hermione say something about helping them out. She felt the touch of a wand and then a strange feeling of floating came over her. She grabbed onto Ron tighter because she was sure that if he let her go she would float up and not stop until she hit the ceiling. She heard soft laughter under her ear and she closed her eyes. She didn't want to see the floor as it receded below her. The next thing she was really conscious of was being laid on her bed by Ginny and Hermione and having them take off her shoes.   
  
"Is she asleep or what, exactly?" Ginny asked Hermione as they tucked a blanket over her. Cassie listened with a strange sense of detachment. She was almost curious herself.   
  
"No, she's not asleep. Just really, really relaxed. I've already removed the spell, it will just take a while to wear off. Should we wrap her ankle? There were lots of people who asked what was wrong with her." That was interesting. Cassie did not remember one single thing about that.   
  
"I don't think so. I've never seen Pomfrey wrap anyone before. If anyone asks, which I doubt, we'll just say that Pia wanted to rest it and see if it felt better and it did."   
  
"Okay. That works for me. I'm going to go up to my room to put these things away and then I'll be back before dinner. Keep an eye on her. I don't think there will be any problem, but I don't want to leave her alone."   
  
"Sure. I'll read or something." Cassie lay there for a long time, unsure of what to do. She felt like with a great effort she could get up but she wasn't sure she wanted to. And she wasn't sure she could really face Ginny, or Hermione for that matter. And the idea of going downstairs and actually facing Harry or Ron was even worse. It was much easier to lay here and not have to say or do anything. What had happened at the gates of Hogwarts had been a very unpleasant experience for her. She wrestled for quite a long time with feelings of embarrassment, frustration and disappointment. She had almost convinced herself that she really could fit in and belong in this world. True, she couldn't do magic, but otherwise, she was just like all of them, right? However, the harsh reality had come crashing painfully in with the way she had acted. She couldn't believe she had actually been taken in by the castle-in-ruins anti-Muggle defense. How stupid. She didn't belong here at all. Obviously. They all knew it. She had been the only one who was insane enough to not accept reality. Well, maybe George was functioning under the same delusion. Or maybe not. Maybe he was just pretending to avoid hurting her feelings.   
  
She laid there for about 10 minutes listening to Ginny's quiet movements from the next bed, examining each and every word George had said to her that day, trying to (despite her secret hoping that she couldn't) find the point in the conversation where he had been lying to her. She finally decided that she wasn't getting anywhere and thought it was probably time to sit up and face the music. After all, she couldn't lay here the rest of the week, no matter how tempting that idea sounded at the moment. She stole a glance over toward Ginny's bed. Ginny sensed the movement and was up and over by her bed in about five seconds. "How are you feeling?"   
  
Cassie sat up and looked at Ginny sheepishly. "Like an idiot." Ginny scowled and was about to respond when the door opened. Elspeth walked in, a big grin on her face. Ginny and Cassie both smiled back at her. It was good to see her so happy.   
  
"Hi." Elspeth said cheerily. "Are you feeling better, Pia? We saw you were having trouble and heard you hurt your ankle."  
  
Cassie blushed and tried to smile reassuringly at Elspeth. "Uh, yeah, it's much better now. I'm not really sure what happened; I must have twisted it or something. There's no reason to really ask how are you doing. We saw you and Collin at the Hungry House Elf. You two looked great together. And I don't think you'd need a broom to fly at the moment."   
  
Elspeth blushed and got an even larger grin. "You're right. I feel like I am floating. And I didn't eat any of the fizzing whizbees or anything." She sat down on her bed and picked up her pillow. "The whole afternoon was wonderful, just absolutely wonderful." Both girls looked at her expectantly, but she didn't elaborate.  
  
"Well," Ginny coaxed with a smile on her face, "Did he kiss you?"  
  
"Yes!" she beamed.  
  
"Well, come on, Elspeth. Tell us about it. Where did he kiss you? How was it?"  
  
"Oh, it was great. He kissed me outside of the restaurant and it was more of a pretty quick peck, but still really nice. Then, he kissed me after we left Honeyduke's; that was a little longer and a lot nicer. And, each time we stopped on the walk from Hogsmeade, the kisses got better and better. By the time we stopped and sat on that bench right inside the gate, well," her eyes were gleaming with excitement, "it was really wonderful. We sat there for quite awhile and just kissed and kissed."  
  
Ginny giggled and Cassie joined in. "Whoa! That's a lot of kissing for one day -- your first real official date."   
  
Elspeth looked a little chagrined. "I know. I told him that, too."  
  
"And what did he say?"   
  
"He just said that we had known each other for six years of school and that that meant more than just going out on dates."   
  
Ginny was grinning almost as widely as Elspeth. "I can't believe you two kissed that much! Next thing you're going to tell me is you're headed up to the Astronomy Tower!"  
  
Elspeth gave an embarrassed grin. "Well, Colin is going to try to make an appointment for us for Wednesday afternoon."  
  
Cassie's eyes widened in surprise. Ginny laughed. "Elspeth McCrae, I can't believe you're really going to go up to the Astronomy Tower!"   
  
Elspeth's face turned a bright shade of red. "We're just going to kiss. We're not going to do anything else. Besides, where else could we go for some privacy? We're not about to snog down in the commons room like some couples do." She looked at Ginny slyly. "Where do you and Harry go to be together? You know, kiss and stuff."   
  
Ginny blushed. "I'm not going to tell you where we go. That's why we go there, because no one else knows about it." Cassie laughed at the expression on Ginny's face which was a combination of embarrassment at having to admit they actually did kiss and indignation that someone would actually expect her to give away the secret of where they did it. Elspeth and Ginny looked at her and Ginny's eyes sparkled with mischief. Cassie supposed that she would get hers when they were alone again.   
  
"Colin is so, so wonderful." She brushed her hair quickly, touched up her make-up, and then turned to leave. "Well, I'm going down to meet him. We're going down to dinner."  
  
"But Elspeth, dinner isn't being served for at least another forty-five minutes." Ginny glanced at her watch.   
  
"Yeah. I know." Elspeth grinned breathlessly as she headed down the stairs.  
  
Cassie and Ginny looked at each other with surprised expressions after Elspeth had left. Cassie grinned. "I think we created a monster."  
  
"Yeah," Ginny laughed. "And she used to be so shy. I guess my little girl is growing up." She wiped a fake tear from her eye and Cassie laughed again. "Speaking of kissing, how it was with you and George? And I want details. Juicy details. Just remember he is my brother, so nothing that will make me want to poke my eyes out with my wand or anything, please."   
  
Before Cassie could say anything in response, the room door again opened and admitted Hermione. She looked with some concern at Cassie. "Hi."  
  
"Hi." Cassie tried not to let the blush she could feel just under her skin escape.   
  
"How are you doing?"   
  
"I'm embarrassed." She may as well be honest, she supposed.   
  
"Embarrassed? What are you embarrassed about?"  
  
"Making a fool of myself, maybe? That's obvious, isn't it?"   
  
"You didn't make a fool of yourself."  
  
"Hah. I didn't see either of you being carried up the walkway to the castle, pretending you sprained your ankle."   
  
Hermione looked a little uncomfortable at that comment. "But . . . you were just doing what you were supposed to do. The spells are powerful. They have to be or someone would find the castle."   
  
"But I knew it was here. You told me it was . . . and I wasn't strong enough to fight through the stupid spells." Cassie bit her lip and turned her head into her pillow. She had been over this already in her head several times over the last few minutes, and it wasn't getting any better.   
  
"That was our fault. Because we didn't warn you." Ginny sat down on her own bed and looked seriously at her two friends. "If we had told you in advance, you would have been okay. I'm sure of it. You would still have been nervous, but you could have told yourself that it was all just a charm. But by the time we even thought to tell you, you were already under them and you really had no chance. So, if anyone should be embarrassed, it's us." For the first time, Cassie felt a little less like an idiot.   
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yes, really. Personally, I think you did great."  
  
"Me, too," Hermione chimed in. "You didn't run screaming or anything." Cassie looked at the two of them, carefully studying their faces to see if they were just patronizing her. They weren't.   
  
"Okay. Thanks. I appreciate it." All three of them sat there in silence for a minute. Finally, Hermione spoke up.   
  
"So . . . what's with you and George? I thought you two hardly knew each other."   
  
"Um . . . me and George?"   
  
Hermione nodded, completely serious. "I'm sure you remember him. The tall redheaded boy you couldn't take your eyes off of today." Cassie flushed.   
  
"Nothing's going on. I don't know what you mean." Hermione just looked at her. Ginny didn't say a word. Cassie felt like Snape was staring her down and all her secrets were being exposed. "Well, he is handsome. And I think he's got a great sense of humor." After another moment of silence, she finally confessed. "And I think he's wonderful. But I don't think he feels the same way about me."   
  
"He likes her." Ginny finally spoke and Hermione swiveled her head around to stare at her.   
  
"So you knew about this?"  
  
"Of course. He likes her, a lot. I've never seen him like this before." Cassie flushed and she wasn't sure if it was due to embarrassment or pleasure.   
  
"He may not like me that much."   
  
"I've read his letters. He likes you."   
  
"Letters?! He's written you letters? Here, at school, I mean?"   
  
"One or two."   
  
"Or three or four."  
  
"Shut it, Ginny." But Cassie wasn't laughing. She really wished she had a wand that worked and she could send a silencing spell in her roommate's direction. "She's exaggerating."  
  
"I am, huh? Let's see. There was the letter . . ."  
  
"But you've only been here a week! He's sent you four letters in a week?" Hermione was absolutely incredulous.   
  
"He's just . . . he didn't know . . . all the facts, so to speak. I think that may change."   
  
"He knows all the facts now and he's more in love with her than ever."   
  
"He is not in love with me!"   
  
"Hmmm." Hermione was studying her carefully again.   
  
"Look, Hermione. I know this can't go anywhere, all right? I don't intend for it to go anywhere. I may never see him again." But even as her brain thought those words and forced them out past her lips, her heart was screaming in protest that it couldn't be true. She met Hermione's gaze squarely now. "Please, please don't tell Harry or Ron. I don't want them to know."   
  
"I'm pretty sure that Ron didn't notice anything today, but I'm almost positive Harry did."   
  
"Oh, no! How? I thought we were subtle."  
  
"Subtle!!!" Both girls said it together and then Hermione nodded again. "Yeah, you were subtle all right. Like a freight train." Cassie blushed bright pink. She had thought they were being pretty careful not to be seen overtly touching. But she supposed that the glances aimed at her and the way they were never more than a few inches apart probably began to be fairly obvious after a while. "But, I won't mention it to either Harry or Ron. I don't understand why not, though."   
  
"Okay. Well, George and Harry are friends. And I'm afraid that if Harry knew about me and George, it might change something between them. And I'm only temporary. I don't want to cause problems."   
  
"I can understand that, I guess." She looked at Cassie with a questioning expression. "But you probably can't hide it forever."   
  
"There's no reason for them ever to see the two of us together again as far as I know." She really tried to keep the bitterness out of her voice, but she didn't think she did a very good job.   
  
"Uh. Okay. Well, um, why don't you get up and get ready for dinner? I have a surprise for you that I think you'll like. I think it will cheer you up."   
  
Cassie grimaced and swung her legs off the side of the bed, noting with some surprise that her shoes were across the room. She had expected them to be on the floor by her bed. Without even really thinking about it, she picked up her wand off the side table. She didn't want to get up and step on the cold floor to get them. "Accio shoes!" she said, pointing her wand at them. Both Ginny and Hermione stared at her and she looked down at her wand hand. "What am I doing? I've been around you people too long!" And all three of them laughed as Hermione went over and tossed the shoes onto Cassie's lap.   
  
"Accio that, Pia!" As they headed down the stairs a few minutes later, Cassie was begging to know what the surprise was that Hermione had teased her with. "No. I'm not telling you. Stop asking. You'll find out in just a few minutes." Ron and Harry were waiting down in the common room and even though Cassie was a little embarrassed to face them, neither of them even looked at her strangely. They just told her they were happy she was feeling better.   
  
All five of them started walking through the school in a direction that Cassie was pretty sure she had never gone before. It was quiet in the halls and Cassie looked around with interest at the paintings they were passing. She never tired of looking at the different paintings through the castle, even when she had passed them several times. Because, of course, all of them changed all the time, so it was like new paintings every time she walked by. Finally, they arrived at their destination. She had no idea where they were in the castle but everyone else was looking at her expectantly. "What? Why are we here?"   
  
"You honestly don't see anything unusual in this hall?" Hermione asked while Ginny muffled a giggle behind her hand. Cassie looked around at the walls and then up at the ceiling. As far as she could tell, it was just a hall - identical to all the others in the school. But then she looked at the floor, and her eyes widened.   
  
"Is this . . . the infamous swamp?" She walked toward the wall, toward a rather strange looking section of floor against the wall. It looked to her like someone had spilled a bucket of mud that had not gotten cleaned up yet.   
  
"Well. It's part of it. Originally it filled the whole corridor and Filch had to punt students across it for classes. It was so funny!" Ginny laughed. "Anyway, Flitwick was so impressed with their work that he left this little reminder. And . . . well, you can see that no one will ever be allowed to forget why it's here." Cassie squatted down. There was a large plaque on a post next to the swamp and she was curious to know what it said. As she read the 2 foot square sign, she kept glancing at the unassuming patch of muddy water, amazed.   
  
The plaque's text read:   
  
"This sign was erected on the one-year anniversary of the creation of this swamp, on April 27, 1997. Fred Weasley and George Weasley, both of Gryffindor House, created a large swamp here in this corridor as an act of sedition and rebellion against the oppressive control of the usurper 'Headmistress' Dolores Jane Umbridge, who had declared war on the students of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Immediately after its creation, the two wizards were threatened with detention, violence, and probable torture by Argus Filch, who worked in conjunction with 'Headmistress' Umbridge to control the students. However, the brave warriors, sensing that a return to schooling would not be possible under her illegal dictatorship, and feeling the need to make a definitive statement about their disgust toward the puppet regime left school in a bold maneuver that will be remembered in perpetuity by grateful Hogwarts students and their posterity. To commemorate this event, one of the first in the second war against Lord Voldemort, this plaque was created and donated by members of the D.A., who honor their bravery and skill."   
  
Cassie read the sign twice and then stood up. She wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. She looked at the other four and all of them were smiling broadly. "Um. It's a bit over the top, I think."   
  
"Definitely." Harry grinned.   
  
"I can assume that neither of them have ever actually seen this sign?"   
  
"If they had, it would probably not still be there. They would be embarrassed to think that such a fuss had been made."   
  
"I guess I won't mention it to them. But, I think I'll come up here and write down what it says. Just to remember." Everyone nodded. "I have no idea where I am, though, so maybe one of you girls can bring me back here tomorrow?"   
  
"Sure. I'll be happy to. Maybe after lunch tomorrow? Before we hit the books?" Cassie nodded happily at Ginny. "Great. That's settled, then. I'm ready for dinner."  
  
"Yeah. Me, too. I'm starving." Everyone looked with amazement at Ron. "What?"   
  
Dinner was a pleasant affair, although Cassie was really not hungry at all. The entire student body seemed to be in a relaxed and cheerful mood; undoubtedly the chance to be away from school at Hogsmeade coupled with the upcoming Christmas holidays had put a smile on everyone's face. She nibbled at a roll and ate a small salad so that she wouldn't die of starvation before Sunday's late breakfast. Neville had wound up sitting next to her on one side while Ginny and then Harry occupied the bench on her other side. Ron and Hermione had originally sat down across from them, but had been coerced into moving to another area of the bench completely by Seamus and Dean and there was a lot of loud laughing and joking from their new location. Colin and Elspeth were completely wrapped up in each other and Cassie doubted that either of them would have looked around if the entire castle fell down around their ears. Cassie visited most of the time with Neville. And she didn't even complain when most of his conversation seemed to focus on Herbology. She just nodded a lot and mumbled a vague response or two when it seemed necessary. Finally, though, everyone was done eating and their was a general consensus amongst the four of them that they were finished with the meal. They all stood.   
  
"Would you mind, er, if I, er, walked with you up to the tower, Pia? You're interesting to talk to."  
  
"No. That would be lovely, Neville. I would appreciate your company. Sometimes I feel like a third wheel with those two, or a fifth wheel if Ron and Hermione are with us."   
  
"I understand what you mean." They walked slowly out of the Great Hall, feeling no need to hurry up to Gryffindor Tower. Cassie was positive that she would fall asleep early tonight, and truthfully, her feet were killing her and she was looking forward to kicking off her shoes and relaxing with her feet held up to the fire on an ottoman. Neville heard his name called by the Ravenclaw girl that Cassie still could not quite understand. The Ravenclaw house, from what she understood, was supposed to consist of the extremely bright students. She wondered if this girl had somehow slipped in undetected like a spy plane under radar. She didn't seem to be quite connected to reality. Neville smiled in apology. "I'll just be a minute. Luna likes to keep tabs on me. Would you mind waiting?"   
  
"Not at all. I'll just wait in the entrance hall, though, okay?" Neville nodded and stepped over to the slight blonde girl. She would have gone over with him but two things stopped her. First, she got the impression that Luna liked Neville and she didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. Second, her rather prominent eyes looked right through Cassie's soul and she sometimes wondered if the girl knew her secret. She didn't know how or why, but she seemed to know a lot more about things than most people gave her credit for. Not that this changed her opinion about her suitability for Ravenclaw. She stepped into the entrance hall which was filled with chattering students who didn't want the day to end. She smiled and nodded at people she recognized and looked around at the beautiful Christmas decorations, perfectly content to wait for Neville.   
  
Cassie felt a hand on her arm after a few minutes and turned, assuming that Neville had caught up with her. But instead of his pleasant round face she saw the narrow pale visage of a boy she had last seen face down in a mud puddle. She would have smiled over that remembered image, but she was too nervous. "Does the mudblood know you're snogging her boyfriend?" His voice was low, for her ears only.   
  
"What?" Cassie was genuinely confused. She had no idea what he was talking about and tried to pull her arm away from him.   
  
"I'll repeat myself. Does the mudblood know you are snogging her boyfriend? Because I would be happy to inform her. It would be one of the more pleasant conversations I've had with her."   
  
Cassie felt like shaking her head to clear the cobwebs. The mudblood was Hermione, certainly, . . . but Ron's carrying her up the stairs into the castle could hardly be construed as snogging. And why was he even mentioning Ron instead of giving her a difficult time about George. Suddenly, Cassie understood. Draco thought it had been Ron with her this afternoon behind Honeyduke's. Her puzzled expression cleared. "Ah. I thought you would not want that spread about. Imagine the difficulties it would cause in Gryffindor . . . it almost makes me want to tell her just to see what she does." Cassie pulled on her arm again trying to get away from him.   
  
"You're disgusting. And you don't know what you're talking about." She kept her voice as quiet as his, praying that Ginny and Harry would notice who had accosted her and come to her rescue.   
  
"I got a good look at the two of you before he sent that mess down on my head. And you definitely were not discussing Quidditch scores. You were snogging with him! But I'd be willing to keep it quiet if you're willing to do something for me. I think you'd enjoy it."   
  
Cassie frowned. The git was still trying to proposition her. "Go away. I do not want to talk to you." His hand tightened on her arm and she realized that she was not going to be getting away until he let her go. His wiry frame was stronger than it looked. "Let go of me, Draco. You're hurting me."   
  
He just smirked. "I'll let you go when I'm ready. Stop fighting me. I want to talk to you." Cassie tried to glance around to see someone, anyone, who would help her. There were people walking all around, several of them looking at them curiously, but none of them who knew the true story behind the rumours that she and Draco were a couple.   
  
"There's nothing to talk about. I didn't do anything this afternoon that I'm ashamed of. It wasn't me sneaking and spying on other people."   
  
Draco smirked. His voice was louder this time when he spoke. "So, it doesn't bother you that you are cavorting with someone who already has a girlfriend? Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. If that's the case, maybe you should go after Potter. According to the stupid girls in Gryffindor house, he's a better catch by far than the stupid Weasel." Despite all her efforts to let that just bounce off her, Cassie could feel the heat rising in her face. He, of course, noticed. "Ah. You've thought about chasing Potter. Maybe you've even caught him." Draco looked her up and down. "Maybe you're keeping both of them on a leash. That would be interesting." Cassie could feel her stomach start to clench in panic. "Maybe you've got all the Gryffindor boys on a leash. It wouldn't surprise me. You can practically hear them panting over you even from the Slytherin table. They probably don't mind sharing."   
  
"Get away from her, Malfoy! Pia isn't like that at all. You don't know her, obviously. She's a very nice girl." Neville was standing next to her and Cassie closed her eyes in gratitude. Even if Neville couldn't get her out of this mess, he would at least get Harry or a professor or someone, anyone.   
  
"Oh, shut it, Longbottom. Everyone knows you are panting after her as much if not more than anyone else in this school. And as far as her being nice. . . . well, that's what I think. She's being very nice to everyone. Very nice. She could be nice to me and I wouldn't complain." His voice now was raised and many of the students had turned to observe the tableau and Cassie's face flamed as she heard muted giggles and murmurs in the gathering crowd. Neville turned deep red and gripped his wand but Cassie shook her head at him trying to indicate that he shouldn't try to take Malfoy on alone.   
  
"So, how about it, Spencer? You could be nice to me. And I'd be very nice back. I've never had any complaints." More giggles. Then out of the corner of her eye, Cassie saw the bright red of Ginny's hair pushing through the crowd. Relief flooded through her. Her rescue couldn't be too far in the future.   
  
"Let her go, Malfoy! She doesn't want anything to do with you!" Cassie saw that Ginny had her wand out and she suddenly remembered that she should be threatening Malfoy with that hex. Maybe that would convince him to let her go at least. Her arm was asleep from the elbow down from lack of blood circulation and she hoped that she could at least hold the wand as she did her acting part.   
  
"I wouldn't say that, Weasel. She is apparently being very . . . accommodating to every boy in this school! Have you asked Potter how close he has gotten to your little cousin? And what about your brother?" He was practically yelling now and Cassie could see students coming out of the Great Hall to see what was going on in the entrance hall. Wonderful. Let everyone witness this embarrassing scene. Why not? Cassie couldn't see Ginny's face, but she could imagine it because Draco laughed and it wasn't a friendly laugh. "I've hit a nerve, have I? Potter and Weasel, both of them. Ha! Guess that leaves the mudblood completely out of the picture. Well, if she asks nicely, I could maybe help her out. . . If I can bring myself to do so."   
  
Cassie struggled to reach for her wand. It was difficult but somehow in the twisting and maneuvering, she got her arm free from Draco's grip. It might also have been because he reached for his own wand. She didn't know, all she knew was that suddenly she was standing alone. She instinctively reached for her real wand and then hesitated. She needed the fake one, George's wand. So, instead of reaching into her sleeve where her unicorn-core wand was stored, she reached into the neck of her robes to pull out the doctored one. Draco laughed again and in the complete utter stillness of the entrance hall, his voice rang out, echoing off the stone. "Oh, don't undress here, my dear. Unlike your cousin, I'd prefer to enjoy you privately. I know just the place. We can be alone, and you can demonstrate whether Longbottom here was right about you being a very . . . nice . . . girl." She took one step forward and the crack of her open hand connecting with his cheek echoed through the stillness. She gripped George's wand tighter and ran like the hounds of hell were chasing her up the steps to Gryffindor tower.  



	42. Revenge and Revelations

Chapter 42  
Revenge and Revelations  
  
Cassie was halfway up the second flight of steps when she heard Professor Snape's voice rising over the din below. "What is going on in here?" And her face flamed even more because she knew that Gryffindor would be losing serious points for her behavior toward Draco. She considered for a second descending the steps again but then decided there was no need. Everyone else in the entire school could tell Professor Snape what had happened and he could take points away from her in absentia. Right now, she just wanted to go to bed and forget for a few short hours about what had just occurred. She wished with every fiber of her being that she had just gone ahead and done the Bat thingy hex. She would have really enjoyed hearing Draco squeal like a pig. Of course, that would have been enjoyable only if she could have remembered what she was supposed to do. She had been so flustered by all of his filthy insinuations that she was not sure she could have done it adequately. His accusations of her snogging Ron were ridiculous and she knew that Hermione wouldn't believe them. But almost all the other students would.   
  
She reached the portrait hole and practically screamed the password at the Fat Lady. "No need to get snippy, dear. I do have ears, you know." And the portrait swung open. The common room was almost empty with just a few students sitting around staring glumly at their textbooks. Cassie grimaced. She had a lot of homework to get done this weekend and if she didn't do any of it tonight, tomorrow would be extremely difficult. But she didn't really care. She just climbed the steps to her dorm room as quickly as her legs could carry her. She climbed into bed quickly and pulled the covers over her head, only pausing long enough to toss her shoes through the curtain and hear them land with satisfactory clunks on the bare floor. She wanted to go to sleep immediately but her mind was too full of racing thoughts to allow her to settle down. She had planned on falling asleep tonight with happy thoughts of George and hugs and kisses and sweets playing through her memory. But instead, she had nothing there but a repeated scene of Draco's ugly voice taunting her and Ginny's sharp intake of breath when he had turned on her and Snape's overly gleeful demand about what was happening. Oh, yes, mixed in there was also the very good feeling of her hand connecting quite solidly with Draco's smirking expression, but that was not enough to banish all the bad parts of the entire episode. She heard Ginny and the rest of her roommates come in later but no one asked how she was doing and she lay as still as possible so that they would think she was asleep. They talked for a while but Cassie really couldn't understand what they were saying as they were trying to speak quietly and the heavy bedcurtains did a fairly good job of muffling sound.   
  
When she awoke Sunday morning, she seriously considered laying in bed for the entire day and maybe through next week. Maybe Ginny would even be willing to smuggle food to her at nighttime. She just could not bear the thought of going down into the Great Hall and facing the entire student body again. She could only imagine the whisperings and murmurings she would hear as she passed and the pointed glances that would be sent her direction. And there was no help for it. Even if she got really brave and stood on a chair and made an announcement that she had not been doing any of the things Draco Malfoy had accused her of, people would believe what they wanted to anyway. Finally, when a need more desperate than food or water and stronger than embarrassment forced her out of bed a while later, she hurried down to the toilet. As she feared, many of the girls smiled at her or scowled at her and she could practically feel their eyes drilling into her back as she passed. When she was finished, she hurriedly took a shower and climbed back up the steps to her dorm room with a definite clenching of nerves in her stomach. Ginny was awake and sitting on her bed, reading a book. She looked up when Cassie sat down on her own bed and looked at her.   
  
"I really blew it."  
  
Ginny looked at her with a very serious face. "It wasn't quite what we had planned, I don't think."   
  
"What happened . . . afterward?"  
  
"Well, Malfoy made a big show about how you had physically assaulted him. I got in trouble for having my wand out. Harry got in trouble for cussing at Malfoy. Hermione got in trouble for defending Harry and threatening Malfoy. Ron got in big trouble because he threatened Snape. Neville got in trouble because he tried to punch Malfoy after you left. You got in trouble for the slap and for causing a disturbance. We tried to argue that last one, but he just took more points off, so we gave up. Then McGonagall came out to see what all the yelling was about and she took more points off from you for the slap and for, let's see, unauthorized fraternization, although everyone tried to tell her that Draco was lying. Then Ron tried to explain that he and you hadn't been snogging and Draco and he got into yet another argument and Ron pulled out his wand and got detention along with another 20 points off. I think the total damage was somewhere around 100 points and three detentions - one for Hermione, one for Ron, and one for Neville."   
  
"Oh."   
  
"Draco got 15 points off for rude language - but that wasn't even for what he said to you. It was for cussing at Neville and calling him a rude name. He didn't think Snape would care. And maybe he wouldn't have, but by then McGonagall was in hearing distance, and he had to do something."   
  
"That bad, huh?"  
  
"Pretty much. But, I think most people from Gryffindor believe that you did the right thing. And even if you and I had hexed him . . . we still would have gotten into trouble, so either way, it still would have meant points off."   
  
"You don't believe him, do you?"  
  
"No. I know it wasn't Ron you were snogging but I think Draco really thinks it was. I don't think he would have expected to see any of my other brothers there. But I couldn't really say that because I think we would have gotten into even more trouble. I mean, you weren't doing anything wrong . . . but the way the mood was down there last night, it would have really turned ugly and even George could have gotten into trouble. So, I didn't say anything."   
  
"But what about Hermione?"   
  
"Well, she swore up and down during the entire incident that Ron had never been out of her sight, and I think McGonagall believed her although Snape made some sort of comment about Ron finally having some taste or something. I almost popped him one for that, but I refrained."  
  
"What about Harry?"   
  
"Yeah, well. He believes you, of course. He says you don't feel that way about Ron. I thought he might have figured out about you and George, but I distracted him from the idea and maybe he's forgotten it by now."   
  
"I meant . . . do you believe him about Harry and me?" Ginny looked at her and her eyes were wide.  
  
"Ah. That." She closed the book and took a very long time putting her bookmark in the pages. "I won't deny that I probably got a strange look on my face when Draco said that. The fact of the matter is, Pia, that . . . I don't like to think of you and him like that. I've loved him my whole life. And it hurts that he didn't feel about me the same way. But, I know that's over now and I . . .I've really come to love you like a sister that I never had. And truthfully, if Harry had to kiss somebody, I'm grateful it was you instead of one of the other sodding girls in his year." She looked down at her hands. "I know you really like George and I really hope that works out for you, okay?"   
  
Cassie noticed that Ginny had not really answered her question, but she didn't say anything else, afraid of just making the situation worse. "Thanks."   
  
After a minute, Ginny smiled up at her again. "Come on. Let's go eat. Maybe we can get in and out of breakfast before the room is too full. The less fuss the better, if you ask me." Cassie nodded in immediate agreement. "I'll shower afterward. Let's just make a run for it." Ginny hopped out of bed at that and threw on some jeans and a jumper. She threw her robes over the top of that and grabbed her wand, looking pointedly at Cassie. "It's not too late if we can do it where we won't get in more trouble. You've still got the other wand?" Cassie nodded again and they started down the steps.   
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all down in the common room and joined them in their near jog down the steps, agreeing that the quicker they could retreat to the quiet of the Gryffindor common room the better. Cassie felt very self conscious with her friends for the first time since she had arrived at school. She wanted to reassure Hermione about things, but changed her mind. Maybe it would be best just to not bring the subject up again. Ginny had told her that Hermione didn't blame her for anything and Cassie was determined not to let Draco Malfoy ruin her day. In the entrance hall, Ginny laid a hand on Cassie's arm to slow her down for a second.   
  
"Pia . . I've got an idea that might allow you to get a bit of revenge on the ferret." They walked following the others into the breakfast room as Ginny explained what sounded like quite a complicated plan to Cassie.   
  
"I don't know . . . we could get into a lot of trouble."   
  
"He won't tell anyone. The only reason he admitted about your slapping him last night is because it was in front of witnesses. Otherwise, he'd never admit he got beaten by a girl. I promise you that if we can pull this off, that'll be the end of it. And I don't think he'd bother you anymore." They sat down at the table and Cassie glanced at the food.   
  
"Ooh. Omelettes! Wonderful! Do they have anything with just cheese?" Ron handed her a plate but before she could take any, Ginny asked her again.  
  
"So? Are you in or out?"  
  
"I really don't think he'll fall for it. I'm not that good of an actress." All four of them laughed. Ginny looked at her.  
  
"Yeah. Right. Well?"  
  
"Okay. I'll try it. But if it doesn't work . . . ."  
  
"It'll work." Ginny reassured her. Cassie took some of the omelette and started eating. She wished she hadn't bothered because over the next few minutes she had a steady stream of visitors and it seemed that every time someone came up to her, she had just put a bite into her mouth and had to hurry and swallow it so she didn't look like a cow while they talked to her. Everyone was coming up to her and, to one degree or another, offering her their support. Niles Caden was one of the first which Cassie thought was extremely brave of him, all things considered.   
  
"Spencer, I just wanted to apologize for Friday. I should have known that Draco was not being truthful with us right from the beginning. And I shouldn't have taken out all my frustration at the situation on you anyway."   
  
"That's all right, Niles. Thanks."   
  
Rhiannon and Elspeth came, too. Saffron smiled and waved across the table and Cassie thought that was probably as close as she could get to admitting she was wrong about Draco. She smiled back. No use making more problems in their dorm room. She was almost finished with her very unsatisfying first helping of omelette when Ginny elbowed her hard. "There he is. Are you in, then?"  
  
Cassie looked over to see Draco Malfoy slinking in the door, flanked as always by his two goonish bodyguards. "He's got them with him. It won't work."   
  
"If he thinks you want to talk to him alone, I can guarantee you he'll leave them behind." Hermione looked at the two of them with a suspicious grimace.   
  
"Don't you get her into trouble, Ginny. I think last night was bad enough."   
  
"She deserves a bit of revenge, if you ask me. And it won't be anything permanent on the Ferret. He'll just be a bit . . . uncomfortable for a while."   
  
"Hmmm."   
  
"Come on, before he gets situated." Ginny made a beeline for the door into the entrance hall and Cassie stood up and smoothed her robes. She hoped this would work. If not, things would be even worse for her than before. Draco looked at her smugly as she approached.   
  
"Spencer. If you've come to apologize, don't bother. The 100 points or so your house lost has gone a long way to making my cheek feel better." Cassie glanced at his reddened cheek, where the outline of her hand was clearly visible against the otherwise pale skin. Ginny had told her to expect this, that he would undoubtedly use a charm to make it look worse than it really was. She had made his mouth bleed and he would want everyone to feel sorry for him. She was apparently right. Cassie hoped she was right about everything else, too.   
  
"Well, of course, I wanted to apologize. I was way out of line last night and I really over-reacted. I was hoping that maybe we could talk for a few minutes, get a few things clear between us. This cannot go on for the rest of the school year. You agree with me, right?"   
  
"Of course. You're right. Unresolved tension is not good for anyone."   
  
"Could we talk for a few minutes right now? I'm afraid I'll be rather busy the rest of the day."  
  
"Certainly, my dear. If you'd like. Crabbe, Goyle. Go sit down. I'll be back in a moment." Cassie led the way out into the entrance hall and Draco was right on her heels. She tried to smile in a friendly, inviting way although she felt like it was transparently sickening. He smiled back, though, and touched her arm gently. "I'm glad you thought about what I said, Pia. I really do think I can make it wonderful between the two of us."   
  
"Yes. I appreciate that." She looked around the entrance hall and saw Ginny standing where she said she would and then she slipped behind a curtain. "Um, let's talk over here where we won't be stared at by everyone coming to breakfast. I'm still a little nervous about this. People will talk."   
  
"That's a good idea." He followed her over to the curtained alcove where they were shielded a little by a large statue and he stood very close to her. Cassie smiled up at him, trying to look friendly.   
  
"I've thought about this, Draco. I really want to make sure that you understand my feelings about things."  
  
"I can assure you, I'm very understanding."   
  
"Good." Cassie let the smile drop from her face and she pulled out the fake wand, which she had in her sleeve this time. "I wouldn't want there to be any misunderstanding on your part. First of all . . ." She saw Ginny's wand poking through the curtain . . . "Silencio." Draco's eyes grew wide as she cast the spell. He tried his voice. It didn't work. Ginny never messed up on her silencing charms, apparently. "Now that you can't talk, you can listen. I despise you. I wouldn't touch you with a very long pole. I don't want to have anything to do with you. I found out about the portkey yesterday and burned it. You need to stop assuming that your good looks are enough to get me to like you, because I mainly go for personality. And yours stinks." The butterflies in Cassie's stomach were going mad now and she tried not to throw up. "Secondly . . ." Ginny's wand again emerged from behind the curtain and Cassie muttered the words to what Ginny had told her was a leg-locking curse so he couldn't move. Draco's eyes got even bigger as he tried to move one leg but couldn't. He was looking scared now, and Cassie felt a momentary twinge of satisfaction. "I know what you've been betting on with all of your friends. It's humiliating to think that someone as slimy as you are is discussing my underwear with his slimy little friends. I never want you to talk about my knickers or anything else about me with anyone else ever again. And stop betting in that pool. Your chances of getting alone with me in the Astronomy Tower or anywhere else are nil, absolutely and completely nil. Return everyone's galleons and give it up."  
  
Cassie now felt certain she was going to throw up. She wasn't sure she could actually do this. He was standing there defenseless and everything. But then she remembered the fact that his father had tried to kill her and Harry and remembered how he had accused her of snogging Ron and Harry and doing all sorts of things with every boy in Gryffindor and she let all the anger bubble up inside her again. "Thirdly, . . ." she put her hands on his shoulders and stepped closer, "never insult a girl, Draco, unless you're wearing protection." And with very calculated precision, she brought her knee up hard into his groin. His mouth opened in a silent scream and he fell to the ground, clutching his private parts with his hands. "Fourthly . . ." Ginny's wand protruded again. "Petrificus Totalis. Never insult a witch who is apparently better at magic than you are. And who is a bit sneaky and devious to boot. She may get you behind a statue somewhere and torture you." Draco's eyes were wide with what Cassie could have sworn was fear although it was hard to tell through the tears of pain. And finally, she was ready to do what they had practiced yesterday. George would be proud. "Fifthly . . ." And she couldn't help it. She smirked. "Fifthly, when someone threatens you with the Bat-Bogey Hex, run as fast and as far as you can, because it's even nastier than you remember." And Ginny and she both said the words together and the beam of yellow light shot out of her wand and the disgusting bogeys started flitting around his face and he was unable to even bat them away as his arms were frozen to his sides. Ginny stepped out from behind the curtain and they both rolled the now-disgusting blonde behind the curtain.   
  
"That should hold him for a while. Crabbe and Goyle aren't too bright. It'll probably even be a while before they realize he's missing." Ginny grinned brightly. "Best part about that hex is that a simple 'finite' spell won't touch it. That actually makes it worse. It'll probably be the better part of an hour before they figure it out. Almost makes me feel sorry for him. Notice I said almost." They stepped out from behind the statue and entered the Great Hall once again. Cassie felt like a big neon sign was blinking over her head announcing to the world what she and Ginny had just done but they made it back to their seats without being stopped by a teacher, so she figured it was not true. She was still getting pointed at and whispered about, but she knew that was still a remainder of last night's floor show. And she felt a lot better about that now. She had gotten revenge. And it was wonderful.   
  
Ginny started to tell the other three what she and Pia had done while Cassie tried to decide on which omelette to try next as all the cheese was gone. The familiar whoosh of owl wings through the air echoed through the hall and their was silence as everyone looked up, hoping for a letter from home. Cassie did, too, even though she knew she would not be hearing from George yet.   
  
"There's a lot of mail today," said Hermione and Cassie could detect a note of concern in her voice.   
  
"Is that bad?" She asked, her stomach immediately going into worry mode - she was bound to have ulcers before too much longer, something she never thought she'd have to deal with. Hermione never answered that question because her copy of the Sunday Prophet landed precisely by her plate at the same moment that Harry's landed in Ron's juice, causing a big commotion. By the time Harry got his paper cleaned off and opened, Hermione was reading hers with a very strange expression. Harry read the headline and swore rather loudly and Ginny scooted over to him to read over his shoulder. The rest of the room was erupting into chaos as other students read their papers and notes from home. Hermione read out loud then for Cassie's sake as well as for Ron, who was still crying to clean the pumpkin juice off his new Quidditch Monthly which he had brought down to breakfast.   
  
Assassination Attempt at the Ministry!  
  
Cornelius Fudge, long-time Minister of Magic, came close to a premature end of his administration last night when some villains, who had been invited to the annual Christmas party, tried to assassinate him in a plot that had obviously been brewing for quite some time. Nicholas Nightscall, now Acting Minister of Magic, informs the Prophet that Minister Fudge was gravely injured and though he survived the attack, the healers at St. Mungo's are still unsure of a final prognosis. "It is still touch and go, I'm afraid. All of us who know Cornelius are certainly wishing for his speedy recovery. However, citizens have no need to worry. Our government is set up for this kind of tragedy and things will move forward as normal. We are currently in the process of hunting down and arresting the perpetrators of this outrage (see related story on page 2) and we can assure your readers that before the end of the day today, they will all be in custody and on their way to Azkaban."   
  
There were other wizards injured in the wand-battle, with most of those killed and injured being bodyguards and security wizards. The villains seem to have attempted to spare innocent bystanders. It is for this reason primarily that Nightscall has assured the Prophet, and by extension, all wizards in the country that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is not behind this attack. In fact, he stated "It seems to be those who are most sincere in their fight against the Dark Lord who are behind this attack. They seem to feel that Cornelius, and the Ministry in general, are not doing enough against him and hoped that by overthrowing the current Ministry, someone will be elected who will be more inclined to put more effort into this difficult battle." (See related story page 3)  
  
Of course, those who can look at this Ministry's exemplary record in fighting the Dark Lord . . . (Hermione started laughing at this point and took a few minutes to compose herself ). . . and see what good has been accomplished rather than the rare difficulties will know that changing administrations at this point would only lend strength to His cause rather than increase the resistance . . . . Hermione broke off and shook her head. "After that, it seems to just be going into a whole bunch of the typical Ministry propaganda." They all looked at each other and then Hermione reluctantly turned the page to read the mentioned related articles.   
  
Her mouth practically dropped open. "I don't believe it . . . I absolutely cannot believe it. 'Hogwarts' Headmaster Accused of Attempted Assassination!' I can't believe that anyone would have the nerve to -"  
  
"Miss Spencer!" Hermione stopped what she was saying immediately and all five of them looked up into the glittering eyes of Professor Snape. "The Headmaster has asked to speak to you immediately." Cassie blanched, a million scenarios going through her head at once. He may have found out about what she and Ginny just did to Draco or she might be in even more trouble for last night. Or he may have even found out about Hogsmeade. Either way, she was sure that he would be very unhappy with her behavior.   
  
"Okay, um, right now?"  
  
"Yes. Immediately."  
  
"I'm coming, too!" Ginny hopped to her feet instantly and stood by her.   
  
"He has only asked for Miss Spencer. However . . ." Cassie was gratified to note that Harry, Hermione, and Ron also stood. Professor Snape glowered at each of them "It was bad enough when the three of you were inseparable. Now your little clique has expanded to five and it is nigh unbearable. You may all come, with the proviso that if he asks you to leave, you will do so with no questions asked." No one answered him but all five of them followed him out the door and Cassie could again hear the whispers behind her. She ignored them. At this point, she really couldn't care less. As they passed in procession through the entrance hall, Cassie had to stifle a giggle. Crabbe and Goyle were standing blocking her view of the curtained niche where Draco had been stashed, but it was obvious from what she could hear that they were trying to figure out how to stop the bogey hex and not having much success. Draco still wasn't making any noise and she hoped that meant the silencing charm was still in effect. Professor Snape ignored them completely and his black robes billowed around him as they started up the steps.   
  
"Um, Professor Snape? Why is Professor Dumbledore here? I mean, after the events of last night . . ."  
  
"Miss Granger, I would not presume to discuss Dumbledore's reasons for doing anything with you. Please, shut up." Hermione snorted in disgust but no one said anything. Hermione opened her mouth again when instead of stopping on the second floor landing and starting down the hall to the Headmaster's office, Professor Snape led them up another flight of stairs, but Ron laid a restraining hand on her arm and she snapped her mouth shut. There were small murmurs of understanding as they entered a corridor completely unfamiliar to Cassie. They passed a group of adult wizards as they walked down this corridor. They were not professors and Cassie sensed that the rest of the group was extremely nervous as they walked past. Professor Snape nodded curtly.   
  
"Who are they?" Cassie whispered but no one answered because Professor Snape scowled at them and Ron, whose mouth had been open, snapped it shut as well. The group paused suddenly in the empty corridor and everyone leaned back against the wall, seemingly waiting for something. Cassie leaned back, too, although she had no idea why. Professor Snape looked up and down the corridor and then he did something extremely odd, even compared to what he had been doing the last few minutes. He started walking down the corridor, muttering something under his breath. Cassie watched him as he turned and started back up the corridor and then her attention was drawn to something else. She studied the large tapestry across the hall and would have laughed at the scene if things were not so tense. Some strange looking wizard was standing in front of a group of extremely ugly-looking creatures who were dressed in what to Cassie looked suspiciously like pink ballet tutus. Because the tapestry moved just like a photograph, the creatures were moving around and the wizard was waving and counting. If she hadn't have known better, she would have sworn they were trying to dance. But before she could really decide if she was insane or not, everyone stood away from the wall and filed into a door. Cassie blinked. She could have sworn the door was not there a moment before.   
  
As they entered the room, Cassie blinked again in surprise. She knew they weren't in Professor Dumbledore's office - well, unless they had come in through a different door, but it looked almost exactly like it. And Professor Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, looking calm and relaxed as ever, although when she looked closely, Cassie noticed a tightening around his lips and some tension in the way he was holding his shoulders.   
  
"All five of them insisted on coming, Headmaster. I can escort the other four back out if you wish." Professor Dumbledore stood and smiled.   
  
"No, thank you, Severus. It's fine that they have come. Were you seen?"   
  
"I'm afraid we were seen here in the corridor, Headmaster. Just as we stepped away from the staircase."   
  
"Why are there Aurors in the school, Professor Dumbledore?" Ron asked and a light clicked for Cassie. Those adult wizards had been Aurors. She thought they were wizarding police. So why were they here?   
  
"I'm afraid they are here to arrest me. Since I would prefer not to be arrested . . . I have temporarily decided to move my office to a more secretive location."   
  
"How could they possibly think you tried to assassinate Fudge, Professor? That doesn't make sense." Harry spoke for the first time since he had sworn as he had opened the Sunday Prophet and read the headline some 20 minutes ago.   
  
"They have eyewitnesses, I'm afraid. Eyewitnesses who have sworn under Veritaserum that they saw myself and several others ambushing the Minister last night."   
  
"But . . . but . . ."   
  
"And I am sorry to say that they did see exactly what they said they saw." Everyone was quiet for a moment. "Of course, they also saw Remus Lupin." His eyes were twinkling in faint amusement. Cassie didn't see how this helped anything and she wasn't the only one because Professor Snape was the only one who snorted in suppressed laughter. Then Cassie understood and she laughed out loud. Professor Snape looked at her and for the first time she thought she saw a glimmer of some respect in those dark eyes rather than the pure unbridled hatred she was so used to.   
  
"I see Miss Spencer actually has a brain, which is more than I can say for the rest of you. I must go, Headmaster. It would not do for me to be gone for much longer from my duties. The students will be worried."   
  
"Of course, Severus. Of course. Thank you." And the Potions Master swept out the door without even so much as a glance back at the students.   
  
"I don't get it . . . what's funny about Lupin?" Ron was looking confused and Harry was looking pole-axed. Cassie was seriously wondering if he was going to keel over.   
  
"He's all right, isn't he?" Harry walked over and grabbed a chair and sank into it, holding his head in his hands.   
  
"It's funny because Remus would not have been at that party last night. There is absolutely no way he would have been and anyone who knows him well would know it. Tonight is a full moon." Cassie was pleased that she remembered this fact - remembering how pale and ill Remus had looked on Friday morning - maybe his lycanthropy would come in handy for once in his life.   
  
"To answer your question, Harry," Professor Dumbledore answered after smiling warmly at Cassie, "Remus is fine. He has moved to Headquarters for the time being."   
  
"Ah." Harry relaxed in his chair and Cassie was pleased to see the deep lines of concern on his forehead lessen slightly.   
  
"Professor Dumbledore? Why did you want to see me, then? I don't understand what I have to do with any of this."   
  
"Ah, yes. Miss Robinson. Actually what I wished to see you about is not related to the events of last night . . . well, at least to the goings-on at the Ministry party although I understand that there were some events here last night of some excitement."   
  
Cassie's heart plunged. So it was about last night. She just hoped that any trouble she got into was her own and not the entire Gryffindor House. It wasn't fair for them to be punished any further and she would argue with the Headmaster if she needed to. "Yeah. About that . . . I."  
  
"Please, Miss Robinson. There is no need to explain. I am aware that Mr. Malfoy provoked you. If he knew that you were not a witch, he would be grateful, as I am sure that your anger coupled with magic would be formidable indeed. I have not brought you here to exact any further punishment for what happened." Cassie was grateful. She hoped, though, that Professor Dumbledore did not know the exact contents of what had been said. That would be embarrassing. "No. I am afraid that something else has occurred with Mr. Malfoy of a much more serious nature." Cassie had no idea what could be more serious than extreme insults and physical violence, but since he was completely sincere, she didn't ask.   
  
The Headmaster raised his voice slightly. "Arthur, could you please join us?" A side door opened, and Mr. Weasley stepped into the room. Ginny and Ron both grinned and ran to their father.  
  
"Dad. Are you okay? You and Mum weren't hurt last night were you? The twins were there, too, weren't they? Were they hurt?" The questions came thick and fast and Arthur didn't interrupt until they had died down.   
  
"Everyone is fine. Your mother and I and all of your brothers are fine. Worried, but fine. I'm not here to bring bad news. Let's listen to Albus, now. He'll explain it to all of us at once."   
  
Chairs were drawn up around the desk and all six of them sat down to listen to Professor Dumbledore's recitation of what happened with Draco Malfoy. "We have been watching Draco Malfoy's mail since you arrived here last week, Miss Robinson. We feared that if he mentioned your presence to his father with certain details, your identity could be discovered. We had almost relaxed because until yesterday, he had not mentioned you at all. I am afraid that the letter that he mailed this morning does not follow that same pattern."   
  
"Did he tell his father what happened last night?" Cassie found this hard to believe. He had, in her opinion, come out the worse in the encounter, but maybe with enough spin, that could even be explained away.   
  
"No. Not exactly. Perhaps it would be best if I just allowed you to read the letter." Professor Dumbledore handed Cassie a brief letter and she skimmed it quickly. She could feel all the color drain out of her face as she finished the last sentence.   
  
"Oh. Yes. I see." She wordlessly handed the note to Ginny who read it. Harry read it also and growled as he finished it. Hermione took it next with Ron reading over her shoulder. Cassie just stared at the carpet, unsure whether to cry or scream or hit something. At least she felt better about what she had done to Draco earlier this morning. She wished she had hit him twice as hard.   
The letter was basically a request to the elder Malfoy for information about a certain Pia Spencer and her family. Not just any information, mind you, but information about the family's skeletons, secrets, and disgraces. He had explained that although the name Spencer was not familiar to him, it should be easy to find them as they were closely related to the Weasleys. "Father," Draco had concluded, "I intend to take the chit to bed though she seems quite resistant to the idea. I think she would be willing, however, to accede to my demands if the alternative was ruin for her family and/or complete humiliation for herself. Please send it as soon as possible as Thursday night would be the last night this term that we could be together."   
  
"I still don't understand," Cassie said. "You got the letter."   
  
"Yes. We got this letter, but we certainly cannot guarantee that we would catch all future owls. And from this description of your arrival, your appearance, and your close association with the Weasleys, we are certain that Lucius will easily be able to make the deduction that you are the girl seen in Knockturn Alley that night. And then, I am afraid, you would no longer be safe - anywhere. So, I am afraid that you must leave Hogwarts."   
  
Cassie knew then that the moment she dreaded was upon her. "Oh. Okay." She was determined that she was not going to cry. "Um, can you tell me where I'm going?" Professor Dumbledore's eyes twinkled a little bit.   
  
Arthur spoke up. "You're coming with me . . . to the Burrow!"  
  
Cassie could hardly believe her ears. "With you to the Burrow? To your house?"  
  
"Yes. We've known you were coming since the beginning and we're very pleased. Molly is most anxious to meet you." Cassie's heart felt so light that she wouldn't have been surprised to look down and see she was floating. The Burrow. She wouldn't be somewhere alone over Christmas after all.   
  
The other four students were all beaming as well. "That means we'll see you in just a few days! That's great!" Ginny smiled brightly. "How brilliant!"   
  
"I'll need to go pack my things and say good-bye to everyone."  
  
"I'm sorry, Miss Robinson. That won't be possible." Professor Dumbledore indicated a trunk that had sat unnoticed in the room before. "Dobby has already packed your belongings. It really is imperative that you leave immediately. With the Aurors here in the castle, we feel it is best to get you out. Arthur will be taking you via portkey."  
  
"Yes. I'm not surprised." Cassie did not even let the thought of traveling by portkey again discourage her. She turned to Ginny. "Tell everyone goodbye for me, then, please. I don't want them to think that I won't miss them." Ginny nodded. Then Cassie grinned and sat down on the end of her trunk, grabbing hold of the handle. "Whenever you're ready, Arthur, I am." Arthur held out the very familiar paperweight, Cassie touched it and felt the familiar tug behind her naval as the portkey took her away from Hogwarts.


	43. First Impressions

Chapter 43  
First Impressions  
  
Cassie arrived at the Burrow the same way she arrived at Hogwarts - laying sprawled on the floor. As she tried to pick herself up and back onto the trunk, she noticed a red-haired man with a pony-tail and earring looking at her with undisguised curiosity. She was grateful she had worn jeans this morning rather than her uniform skirt. Then in quick succession, several thoughts crossed her mind, each worse than the other. She was wearing jeans and a jumper, the same jeans and jumper she had worn yesterday and spent all day with George in. He would certainly recognize the jumper and wonder why she was wearing it again. Then she realized that she hadn't put on any makeup and her face probably looked horrible. The last thought that made her truly want to crawl into her trunk and never show her face again was the remembrance of what her hair looked like. She hadn't meant the ponytail to be permanent and she knew her hair was coming out, surely giving her a rather bedraggled look. Behind her, Arthur must have stood up (gracefully) off the trunk because he reached down and offered a hand to her. She gratefully took it and stood up next to him.  
  
A short red-haired woman working at the kitchen sink had turned with a look of surprise which turned to one of understanding. She quickly dried her hands on an apron and then hurriedly moved forward with outstretched arms, taking Cassie by the shoulders and looking fondly at her. "Well, what a surprise! We've been preparing for you for the past week, but I didn't know you were going to come today. Well, no problem. We're so happy to have you with us. I'm Molly Weasley, Arthur's wife."  
  
"Hi, Mrs. Weasley, it's nice to meet you."  
  
"Oh, please, call me Molly. I don't mind. In fact I'd prefer it. Just last summer I finally convinced Harry and Hermione to call me Molly."  
  
Cassie smiled, nodded and glanced around hoping to see George. The red-haired man stepped forward smiling and held out his hand. "Hi, I'm Bill Weasley. You must be Cassie Robinson."  
  
Cassie shook his hand and smiled. "Hi. We actually met once before. At Hogwarts. In June." Bill's brows drew together.   
  
"I don't remember that. I'm sorry."  
  
"That's all right. It was a bit crazy around at the time. You work for a bank, don't you? In London?"   
  
"Yes. I do, in fact. I wish I could remember . . ."  
  
"And I think Ginny mentioned that now you're engaged?"  
  
"That's right, I am. We're getting married in a couple of months."  
  
"Congratulations. That's very exciting."  
  
"And a lot of work - I've been telling Fleur that I would be happy with nothing but a simple ceremony but she and Mum won't hear of it." Cassie laughed.   
  
"Where would all the fun be in that?"   
  
"Yeah. She says the same thing. Well, it's been lovely to meet you, Cassie, but if I don't leave soon I'll be late for my lunch date with Fleur. We'll see each other again, I'm sure. I'll see you later Mum, Dad." With that, he disapperated. Cassie again looked around the small kitchen, unsure of what to do now. She was a little disappointed George had not yet come in to greet her. Maybe he wasn't even here right now. So she focused on the two people in the room at the moment. Arthur, beaming broadly, kissed his wife on the cheek and Molly started fussing over her when Cassie noticed one of the twins enter the kitchen.   
  
Arthur smiled. "Ah. George. I brought a surprise guest. Well, just a little earlier than we had expected, actually."   
  
The tall redhead smiled broadly and grabbed her into a big hug. Cassie grinned as he stepped away from her and she wanted to laugh. She wondered if they played this trick often.   
  
"Oh, Cassie, it's so nice to see you again. And so soon."   
  
"It's nice to see you too, Fred. But why are you wearing one of George's shirts?" Fred looked down at the monogrammed G above the pocket of his shirt.   
  
Fred groaned. "I do not know how you do that. Not even our own mother can tell us apart like that. And it's not his shirt. It's just a charm. I was hoping to fool you, if you must know." He waved his wand at himself and the G turned back into the F it had undoubtedly been a few seconds before. Arthur and Mrs. Weasley were staring at the two of them in amazement but before Cassie could explain, she heard heavy footsteps running down the stairs above her head and then the real George stepped off the stairs and stood still for a moment.   
  
"Cassie! I thought I heard your voice, but I thought I was imagining things." He took two steps across the small kitchen and then wrapped her in his warm arms. He kissed her quickly, at the last minute aiming for her forehead rather than her lips and then let her go. He looked at her with a mixture of pleasure, surprise and concern. "Why are you here?"  
  
Cassie hesitated and Arthur spoke up. "We can discuss that later. Boys, why don't you take Cassie's trunk up to Ginny's bedroom?" George and Fred grabbed the trunk and began carrying it up the stairs with only a few complaints about what sort of bricks she was storing in it.   
  
Molly took Cassie by the arm and guided her up behind them. "You can sleep in Ginny's bed. The sheets are clean and it's a comfortable room. As I said, we've been looking forward to your arrival. We just weren't planning on you until next week with the others. But Arthur said he'll explain later, so never mind about that now." They climbed the stairs to a small room and opened the door. Cassie looked around shyly, feeling a little embarrassed to be in Ginny's room without her permission or even knowledge for that matter. The boys set the trunk into a vacant corner while Mrs. Weasley bustled around. "It's a little dusty in here. I'm sorry. I'll take care of that immediately." Cassie watched with amazement as Mrs. Weasley pulled a feather duster literally out of thin air and started in on the dresser.   
  
"Mum! I don't think Cassie wants to watch you dust. She knows the room's been empty for months. She doesn't care about the dust, do you?" George looked at her imploringly from across the room through the rapidly-thickening cloud.   
  
"Not at all, really. Not at all." Mrs. Weasley looked flustered and nervous and Cassie wondered why. Was it her? "I'm just grateful you're willing to have me."  
  
"Willing? Why, of course we're willing. We would do anything for Dumbledore, as he well knows. And if you can help identify . . . some people . . . then it's the least we can do. Why don't you freshen up and then come down for lunch? I wasn't expecting company so it's nothing fancy, but there should be plenty."   
  
"Thank you, er, Molly. I'll do that." Cassie was now positive that Mrs. Weasley was flustered because of her, but she couldn't imagine why. Fred and Mrs. Weasley stepped out into the corridor but George stood there for a long minute looking at her and she had the overwhelming desire to apologize for looking so scruffy, but she decided against it. She just smiled nervously at him, unsure what to do. Should she kiss him? Should she hold out her hand? Should she hug him again? "Thanks for bringing up the trunk." All right. So she sounded like an idiot now.   
  
"No problem. Oh, Mum forgot to mention. The loo is on this floor at the end of the hall, if you need to use it or anything." Cassie nodded, grateful for the information although she really wished that anyone except George could have thought to mention it.  
  
"George, come on out of there. Let Cassie have some peace for a minute." He shot her an apologetic glance and then followed his mother out into the hall. Cassie went over to the door and looked out in time to see him starting down the steps but turning around at the last minute to see her. She waved briefly and then shut the door, leaning against it for a minute. The Burrow. In her wildest dreams of where she was going to be spending her time after Hogwarts, living in the same house with George had never crossed her mind. She wrapped her arms around her middle. Her stomach was doing flip-flops now and she wanted to dance and scream and sing all at the same time. He was here. She was here. And they didn't only have an hour together or six hours or a day. They had days and days. She stood up and put her hand up to her hair. Of course, she had made a fantastic first impression on his mother, who was probably right now telling him that he could do a lot better for himself. And maybe he was starting to wonder, too. Well, she had some time now. She could do something to make herself look a little more presentable. She smiled as she stepped up to the mirror and saw a small picture of Harry stuck into the corner.   
  
Suddenly, with the force of a hammer dropped on her toe, she realized something and she felt so faint that she had to go sit down on the bed. She had been terribly rude to Ginny and Harry and Hermione and Ron. When she was told that she was leaving Hogwarts and going to the Burrow, she had barely taken the time to say goodbye to them. I mean, yes, it was true that Dumbledore said she needed to leave immediately, but she hadn't even tried to hug them goodbye or anything. They had done so much for her through the week she had been there and had been such good friends to her. And she had been so excited about going to the Burrow and getting away from Malfoy and that whole embarrassing situation, she had been insufferably rude. She stood up and started pacing. The thought of the four of them sitting around in the common room that afternoon thinking about how rude she had been made her almost sick. She wanted to apologize right then and wished more than anything in the world that she could somehow telephone them and let them know how sorry she was. She remembered the "fire-call" George had made yesterday and wondered if it was possible for her to call Hogwarts.   
  
With renewed energy, she pulled the elastic out of her hair and brushed through it quickly, her fingers automatically plaiting it simply so that it was off her neck. She looked through her trunk for her toiletry bag which the house-elf had obviously put at the bottom when he packed her things. She grabbed her makeup and applied some simple lipstick and mascara, realizing that her color was already high enough that she could forego the blush. She grabbed her deodorant and reached under her jumper. It was really warm in the house compared to the cold stone dorm room and so she decided to change shirts completely. She peeled the jumper off and stepped over to the trunk to dig out a blouse. Even one of her uniform blouses would look okay with the jeans, although everyone would know what it was.   
  
As she stood there looking into her trunk she glanced up at the walls and her eyes got round in shock. She grabbed a blouse quickly and threw it on, fumbling with the buttons in her haste to get them closed. There were pictures of Harry all over the walls. She had noticed them, of course, (they were not hard to miss) but she had forgotten that like all wizard portraits, these would move. The one closest to her trunk was smiling broadly at her from the back of a broomstick and waving. Well, before tonight, these would have to come down. There was no way she was going to be dressing and undressing in front of a million pictures of Harry Potter. No way. It took her a minute to stop shaking from the shock and embarrassment. When she finally felt a little better, she checked herself once more in the mirror and took a deep breath. Time to go downstairs.   
  
She made a quick stop in the small bathroom so she wouldn't have to worry during lunch, and then descended the stairs slowly, unsure of how far up she was. It seemed like they had climbed several flights on the way up. The stairway was crooked and the steps were uneven. She watched her feet carefully, deciding that she definitely did not want to trip and slide down a flight or two to land in another ungraceful heap at the bottom of the stairs. She was halfway down the third flight of stairs when George peeked into the stairwell, grinning broadly at her. "Hi." He climbed a few stairs and met her on the next landing, catching her hand and pulling her close to him.   
  
"Hi." She put her hand up to her hair to make sure it looked all right. "I wish I'd have known when I went down to breakfast this morning that I'd be seeing you later. I would have gone to a little more effort. I'm sorry about . . ."  
  
"Don't apologize. I think you looked great. Of course, I would think that no matter what." She flushed a little.  
  
"Your mum probably wonders about me, though. I think she's nervous about my being here or something." She leaned against him a little, wondering again what cologne he wore, because whatever it was, she loved it.   
  
"Yeah. Dad's told her a bit about your house and parents, and I think she's a little self-conscious. She can be that way sometimes. She'll get over it. Er, you don't mind, do you, that the house is a little, er small?" Cassie looked up at him in surprise and noticed that he was a little pink.  
  
"No. I don't care about how big or small it is. I just care that I'm here. With people. And not somewhere like the Shrieking Shack or something." A thought came to her and her eyes narrowed. "You knew I would be coming here, didn't you? Yesterday, when you said you didn't know?"  
  
"We never said we didn't know, we said no one had told us anything, which is true. We had eavesdropped about it."   
  
"Why didn't you tell me? You knew how nervous I was."   
  
"I was almost afraid to say it out loud. I thought it might jinx it or something. Plus, plans always change if something happens and I didn't want you to be too disappointed." She thought about that for a minute and it made sense.   
  
"Okay. I may forgive you eventually." But her smile belied her harsh words. "George? Can I fire-call Hogwarts from your house?"  
  
"What?" The change of subject had obviously caught him off guard but he caught on quickly. "You couldn't fire-call anyone, Cassie. Same problem as flooing."  
  
"You know what I mean. You could do the actual sticking-your-head-in-the-fire thing for me."   
  
"Um. No. Technically we could, but I don't think it would be a good idea. Why do you want to anyway?" She explained about how quick her departure had been from the school and after a brief chuckle at her obvious distress, he tried to reassure her. "I'm sure they are not sitting around the common room calling you names for not saying a proper goodbye. They know the situation. If anything, they probably are just missing you. It looked to me like you were all pretty good friends."   
  
"Yeah. But they'll probably be happy they don't have to worry about me anymore, now." She felt the prickle of unshed tears behind her eyes. She really felt terrible about not telling them how much she had appreciated everything they had done for her. She could tell them next week, it was true, but it wasn't the same.   
  
"After lunch, you can write them notes and we'll send them this afternoon, okay? They'll have them by tomorrow morning. Will that make you feel better?" She turned and smiled up at him.   
  
"Oh, yes. Thank you so much. That would be great!" Molly looked up the stairs at the two of them.   
  
"There you are, George. And Cassie. What are you two talking about so seriously?"   
  
"Nothing important, Mum. Just about Ginny."  
  
"Well, okay. Are you ready for some lunch, dear? Come on down." Cassie actually wasn't hungry as she had eaten breakfast not more than two hours ago, but she didn't want to say that to Mrs. Weasley as she was afraid it would sound rude. George started down the steps and she followed. All five of them sat down at a square butcher-block style table and Cassie watched with interest as Molly waved her wand at the plates and bowls of food which then floated gracefully over to the table. She had prepared what looked like a very good soup, thick, and full of nice vegetables and noodles. There were also sandwiches made with thick white bread. Cassie took a sandwich and happily ladled herself a bowl of soup. The sandwich was chicken and it was quite good. The soup was also very good, and even though she hadn't been hungry she ate everything. No one said much during lunch. The boys ate hungrily and George had two entire sandwiches as well as a large bowl of soup. It was only after lunch was over that they all sat back and the time for conversation had started.   
  
"Dad, I am dying of curiosity to know why Cassie had to come early. Does it have anything to do with last night?" Cassie suddenly remembered the Sunday Prophet article about the Ministry party the night before.   
  
"I'd forgotten all about that! What happened exactly? Was it Voldemort's people?" Everyone's eyes opened a little wider at her casual use of Voldemort's name and Cassie remembered that she should try to call him You-Know-Who or something for other people's sake. She looked down at the table embarrassed but nobody said anything to her about it.   
  
"We're not exactly sure what happened. We know Fudge was attacked by people who looked like Order members, undoubtedly polyjuiced." George looked at Cassie with a question in his eyes when his father said that but she nodded.   
  
"Undoubtedly. I heard that Remus was seen and anyone who knows about werewolves knows that he would not have been there last night."   
  
"Yeah. That was a big mistake, one they will regret, I'm sure. I personally don't think it was any of, uh, the Death Eaters because I cannot figure out what motivation they would have for attacking Fudge. He's probably their biggest help in the Ministry, although he doesn't admit it. And even if they had succeeded in killing Fudge, we don't see what good that would have done. So we're still waiting for some official investigation into that. It will probably take a few days. Hopefully not much longer. But to answer your question, George, Cassie being here today is just a coincidence that has nothing to do with last night."  
  
"So . . . .?"  
  
"Cassie, do you want to tell them? Or would you prefer for me to do it?"   
  
Cassie sat there for a minute thinking about what exactly had to be told. She was not even sure Arthur knew about the night before and about the horrible things Malfoy had said about her. All he may know about is the letter. "I'll tell them." She stared down at the surface of the table and began to fold her napkin into little squares and then unfold it, over and over again. She knew she was revealing her nervousness but she didn't care. "Remember, George, how I told you and Fred yesterday about Draco Malfoy and how he was giving me a bad time?" This actually was just supposed to be a lead question, sort of a non-threatening way to get the conversation started on the right track. If Cassie had known the chaos that would have resulted from her question, she could have phrased it differently. Quite literally, all hell broke loose.  
  
"Yesterday! You talked about something yesterday!" Mrs. Weasley was screeching and Arthur stood up to lean threateningly over the twins.  
  
"I hope Cassie didn't just say what I think she said. There is no way that either of you should have been anywhere near the school yesterday! Were you there? Were. You. There?"   
  
George stood up next to his father. "Yes. We went to Hogsmeade."  
  
"We didn't know it was a Hogsmeade day, Dad. Honest." Fred said and Arthur glared at him.   
  
"Don't lie to me, Fred."   
  
George shook his head at his twin. "It was my idea, Dad. We did go and we spent the day with all of them. That's not illegal as far as I know. Enlighten me if it is."   
  
"It isn't illegal, but you know as well as I do that students are not supposed to get visitors on Hogsmeade days unless it is their parents with prior permission! I can't believe this. Just when I think you've finally matured past the age of 10, you go and prove me wrong! You could have gotten all of them in trouble. But the main reason I'm upset with you is that Cassie was supposed to be lying low, blending in with the crowd, not getting into trouble!"   
  
"You're right. I'm sorry." George sat down and folded his arms over his chest. Arthur sat down, too. "I wasn't really thinking about her. My mistake. It won't happen again." Both his parents stared at him and even Fred's eyebrows were raised. Apparently, his ready agreement took the force out of the argument because everyone sat there for a few minutes in silent surprise. Finally, Mrs. Weasley smiled pleasantly at Cassie.   
  
"Go on, dear. Please continue."   
  
Cassie hesitated. She was almost afraid to say anything now. But everyone was looking at her so she continued. She stumbled over her words. "I'm sorry to have caused problems."  
  
"Oh, dear, you don't need to worry. It wasn't your fault. You didn't know." Mrs. Weasley turned and glared at the twins. "They, on the other hand, did know. But, that's over now."   
  
"Well, last night, Malfoy insulted me and made some really dirty insinuations in front of the whole school. So I slapped his face."  
  
"Why didn't you hex him, like we talked about?"  
  
"It sounds stupid, but I just reacted without thinking, really. I had the wand out and everything, but then . . . I just slapped him."   
  
Fred groaned. "All that work for nothing."  
  
"Well, not exactly nothing. Ginny and I got him good this morning . . . but that's a different story. Anyway, I guess he was mad enough last night that first thing this morning he fired off a letter to dear old dad." Arthur was nodding.   
  
"Dumbledore has been watching his owls, particularly, for fear that he would somehow expose Cassie's hiding place. And today, the amount of details given concerning when she arrived, what she looked like, and things . . ."  
  
"Wait. I don't understand," George said, a very puzzled look on his face. "Why did he think Lucius would be able to help him?"  
  
Cassie blushed bright red now. "He . . .." She took a deep breath and spit it all out as quickly as possible. "He wanted information on my family so he could blackmail me and force me to do, er, things with him."   
  
"It would certainly have exposed her as an imposter if not worse . . ." Arthur supplied. "If nothing else, his father would have realized immediately that she wasn't really Ginny's and Ron's cousin. That would have led to other awkward questions."   
  
George stood up and started pacing the length of the kitchen, clenching and unclenching his fists while Fred smirked into his hand. Every once in a while, Cassie would catch a word or two. "Kill," "Pulp" and "Ferret" were the only ones she recognized. She looked hopelessly at Fred who just shrugged.   
  
"Ignore him. He's a little territorial right now." This was said in a very low voice so that only Cassie heard him. Then he spoke up. "Speaking of cousins, Mum, is there anything we can do to get Cassie's hair back to its normal color?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Her hair isn't usually red. It's blonde. But she was pretending to be a Weasley, so to speak, and Dumbledore thought the blonde hair was too conspicuous anyway."   
  
"I suppose we could. It might be easier just to wait until it grows out, though."  
  
"That could be weeks."  
  
"Well, I need to know the potion used on her hair. We could owl Severus . . . or we'll see him in a few days anyway."   
  
"Actually, Molly, I don't think Professor Snape made the potion. He didn't know about me at all." Cassie wasn't sure who had made the dye or potion or whatever, but she was positive that Professor Snape had not made it for her or that he knew what it was to be used for.   
  
"That's odd. Albus even hid your identity from Severus?" Cassie nodded.   
  
"Although he said if he figured it out that would be all right."   
  
"Okay. We'll just ask Albus then. I can't use an owl, though. Too dangerous. We'll just have to wait until we see him on other business. It might be a day or so."   
  
"That's fine, Molly. I'm used to it now." George muttered something under his breath again, but Cassie didn't catch was it was. Fred grinned, though. "I wanted to thank you, too, for this wonderful meal. It was great."   
  
"Thank you, my dear. I must say that it's going to be lovely having some female companionship in the house again. I do miss Ginny so when she's away and it's just me and the boys." Cassie laughed as she pushed her seat back and picked up her plate and bowl. Arthur and the boys wandered out of the kitchen and Cassie smiled to herself. Men. If they could get out of working in the kitchen they would. That was true whether Muggle or wizard, apparently.   
  
"Yes. I can imagine you miss her a lot. Do you like Bill's fiancee? Does she come here very often?"  
  
"Fleur is a lovely girl, lovely. And I know that Bill really truly loves her. They'll be good together." Cassie finished bringing the plates and cups to the sink as Molly stacked them. There were no leftovers to worry about so Cassie just watched as Molly ran hot soapy water into the sink and then set the plates to washing themselves. Cassie wished her mother could see this. It would be very handy for the dishes to wash themselves. "But, she isn't one to just sit and visit, at least not with me. She's part Veela, you see." Cassie had no idea what the meant, so she just nodded.   
  
"Oh."   
  
"Anyway, I am thrilled to have you for this extra week. I'm sure you must miss your family, though. But we'll try to make you feel at home here for however long you must stay. I am sure it won't be much longer before this nasty business is settled."   
  
"Thank you, Molly. I already love it here. You have a wonderful home and family." The plates had finished washing and were now drying themselves and putting themselves away in the cupboard. Cassie was going to volunteer to wipe the table but a cloth soaped itself in the sink and did it by itself. Amazing.   
  
"Thank you, my dear. It's cozy, but we love it." Arthur came back into the kitchen just as the work was finished and hugged his wife. Cassie wondered if he had been spying on them to make sure he wasn't asked to actually wipe a counter or something.   
  
"I need to be going to the Robinson's this afternoon. They deserve to know what has happened and where there daughter is. Cassie, do you need anything from your house? I could bring it back easily enough. And if you'd like to write a quick note to your parents, I can deliver it personally."   
  
"I'd love to write a note. And I could probably use some more clothes. Without my uniforms, I only have a couple of outfits. Tell Mum that my regular winter clothes are fine, probably about five outfits or so. Is that okay?"   
  
"I'll tell her. I just don't guarantee the results." Cassie laughed in response.   
  
"Thanks so much. I'll just be a minute." Cassie started up the steps but partway up the second flight she realized that she actually had no idea where Ginny's room was. She stopped on the landing she thought was the right one and opened the door a little. No. This wasn't Ginny's room. She went up one more flight of stairs and this time, when she opened the door, it was familiar. She grabbed her quill and parchment out of her trunk and hurriedly scratched out a note reassuring her mother that she was fine and happy. She also mentioned that she had gotten them really good Christmas presents, which wasn't quite true yet, because her mum was the only one she had really gotten a present for, but she didn't want to admit that in the note. She would think of something before Christmas for her father and brothers. When she was done, she hurriedly rolled up the parchment and ran down the steps to the kitchen. She averted her eyes from the sight of Arthur and Molly kissing because she didn't want to embarrass them, but when they noticed her there, they both smiled.   
  
"Is that ready?" Arthur took the note from her. "I'm sure they'll have something to say back to you, too. I'll be back soon."   
  
Molly tried to look stern. "No you won't. You always say that. Then you get to that Muggle house and you talk for hours. Please do try to be back for dinner." But then she smiled and ruined the whole effect.   
  
"I'll do my best, but Rebecca is a very good cook. I'll have to see what she's offering." Molly tried to look offended again and smacked him with the towel she held in her hand, but he disapperated before it connected.


	44. Unexpected Messages

Chapter 44  
Unexpected Messages  
  
Cassie stood in the kitchen for a minute staring at the blank space where Arthur had stood just seconds ago. It wasn't that she was surprised at the ease with which he disapparated. She had seen that often enough now that she was almost used to it. Nor was it that he and Molly had been kissing and laughing. She had seen that enough in her own house. No, it was just the fact that he had left to go to her house. He was going to see her parents and possibly her brothers while she was here. And she had to admit that she was jealous. She wanted to go home at that moment more than she had wanted to since her first night at Hogwarts. Molly smiled kindly at her and she forced her face into an answering smile.   
  
"He loves your parents dearly, you know." Cassie nodded, not really trusting herself to speak at that moment, afraid she might break into tears if she opened her mouth. Molly seemed to read her mind. "How about some tea? It'll cheer you up, I'm sure." Cassie nodded and sank into one of the chairs at the kitchen table as Molly lit the stove and put the kettle on. "There you are. I don't blame you for being unhappy. It's hard to be away from home sometimes." Cassie tentatively sipped the liquid in front of her as she had not recognized the brand of tea that Molly had used. It was good, although very different than anything she had had before. But it was hot and sweet and that's what comforted her.   
  
When she finally felt like she could say something, she tried her voice. "How does Ginny do it? Being away at school for months and months."   
  
Molly sighed. "Well, the first year is usually hard for the children - all seven of them have struggled a little bit. Bill was the worst because he was all alone. The others have all had at least one sibling there at the same time and Ginny had four at the beginning. But they adjust quickly. You know, it's one thing to have Dumbledore tell me that you are Ginny's age and it's another thing to see you. You are very young. Have you ever been away before - for more than a day or two, I mean?" Cassie shook her head in reply. "No wonder you're having a difficult time of things, then. But hopefully you'll feel comfortable here and think of it as a second home."   
  
"I'll try." Molly patted her shoulder gently and looked like she was going to say something when George walked into the kitchen.   
  
"Hello. Is something wrong?"   
  
"She's just a little homesick, you know. I was telling her that she should think of this as a second home."  
  
"Ah. Any more tea?"   
  
"Certainly. I trust you can make it yourself." And she left the kitchen, muttering something Cassie couldn't catch. George took the kettle off the stove and made his tea, looking over his shoulder at her as she sat at the table.   
  
"Are you all right?"  
  
"Yes. I think so. It's just your dad went . . . and I'm still here . . . and, I don't know. I feel completely useless. I'm not doing one single thing." She sniffed and wished she had a napkin or something. She had the definite impression that her nose was going to start running. He sat down across from her and took her hand off the table, rubbing his thumb across the back of her knuckles in a way that Cassie imagined was supposed to be comforting although she felt anything but calmed by it.   
  
"Well, you are free to think of this as a second home while you're here. Just don't start thinking of me as your brother, okay?" She laughed, then blushed as it came out kind of watery-sounding.  
  
"I won't. Your mum is really nice."  
  
"Thanks. I think the whole family is pretty nice, especially her twin sons, well, one of them anyway." She laughed again and this time it sounded more like her normal self.   
  
"How do you do that? Cheer me up so easily, I mean.."   
  
"That's what I do for a career, remember? If I couldn't cheer up one little girl, I would have to retire. Are you feeling like working on those notes right now or do you want to wait a while?" Cassie thought for a minute staring at his thumb as it ran over her hand. She knew he meant the little girl as an endearment and wasn't offended. She felt butterflies start flying in the region of her stomach. They were alone sitting here in the quiet kitchen. Completely alone, like they had been in the kitchen of the Three Broomsticks yesterday morning. And she certainly remembered what had happened then. She desperately wanted to be held by him again, not necessarily for the kissing (although she wouldn't complain about that at all) but more just because she felt adrift and hoped that he would anchor her somehow. She turned her hand over abruptly so that his hand and hers were palm against palm. He smiled at her and turned his hand so that their fingers could interlace.   
  
"I think now is a good time to write the notes. I guess I'll go get my quill and parchment." She reluctantly pulled her hand away from his. "That is assuming I can find Ginny's room again, of course. Last time I got confused and stopped one floor too soon."   
  
"I'm sorry. We haven't really been very fair to you, expecting you to find your way around. The house is a little, uh, odd at first. You have to get used to it, I suppose."   
  
"It's like Hogwarts in miniature. I think magicked buildings are just a little bit confusing." She shook her head. "I'm talking like I'm an expert. Sorry."  
  
"That's all right. You didn't offend me or anything. You're completely right. Hogwarts is confusing and so is this house, well, to a non-family member. Now come on - a complete tour is going to take a while." He stood up to stand next to her and it was so natural to let their fingers intertwine again that she barely noticed until he squeezed her hand tight a moment later. "Wait. Here is the first stop on the tour - the family clock." Cassie looked up at the face of the clock and did a double take.   
  
"Family clock? What is it exactly?"   
  
"See, each family member had a hand and this is how mum keeps track of all of us. It's a family heirloom, of course. They're very rare and very valuable and this one only works for Weasleys anyway."   
  
"But Harry and Hermione have hands, too." Cassie stared with fascination at the miniature pictures of her four friends, all of which were on hands pointed directly at the word "School." Arthur's was on "Visiting," George's and Molly's were on "Home" and Fred's was on "Up to No Good." George laughed as he noted her interest in Fred's hand.  
  
"Actually, I think Fred's upstairs. I think that is our default position, you see, and if we're not doing anything else, that's where they go."   
  
"I see. That can't be good." Just then, the object of their conversation walked into the kitchen.   
  
"Hullo."   
  
"Hi, Fred." Cassie smiled brightly up at him.   
  
"Looking at the old clock, eh? You know, it's interesting to me how Mum can make the clock reflect what is worrying her at the moment."   
  
"What do you mean?" Cassie asked after a second when George didn't say anything.   
  
"Well, notice that the old 'In Mortal Peril' spot has been replaced - temporarily of course." She turned and looked up at the face of the clock. Traveling, Work, Visiting, Snogging, School, . . . wait a second, Snogging! Cassie felt her heart start pounding double time. The thought of George's hand pointing there off and on throughout the day yesterday made her extremely aggravated. His mother would have known all the times they kissed? How humiliating was that? "Try it! It's amazingly accurate."  
  
"If you insist," teased George and he pulled her into a tight embrace and lifted her chin for his kiss. Their lips met and Cassie didn't really care what the clock did or didn't say for a moment, but then her curiosity got the better of her and she pulled away, just in time to see George's hand move from "Home" to "Snogging." Her eyes got really big, though, when, in golden letters on the hand, the initials CR suddenly appeared.   
  
"Th, Th, That's for me?"  
  
"Of course. What would be the point of knowing someone was snogging if you didn't know with whom?"   
  
"That's enough, Fred. I think you've scared her adequately. He's just teasing you, Cassie."  
  
"Spoil sport. You could have let her think that Mum can know every time you two lip-lock. Would have kept the two of you honest." George's hand moved back to "Home" and Fred readied his wand to apparently undo whatever he had done to the clock. Before he could do it, though, all three of them laughed as both Ginny's and Harry's hands moved from "School" to the new category, a small HP showing up on Ginny's hand and a small GW appearing on Harry's. "You know, Mum may actually be interested in this after all. Maybe I should ask if she wants me to leave it like this."   
  
"I don't think so. Remove the charm."  
  
Fred smirked at his twin. "You have no sense of humor. I always knew I was the funnier of the two of us." He removed the charm and "In Mortal Peril" rewrote itself where "Snogging" had been just a moment before. The small golden letters disappeared from Harry's and Ginny's hands and they slid back to "School."   
  
"Yeah. You just keep thinking that." All three of them walked out into the living room where Molly was sitting, reading a book. "I'm taking Cassie on a tour of the house, Mum."   
  
She looked up at George. "All right." She turned to the other red-headed boy. "You go along with them."   
  
"I think George can handle it himself. He doesn't get lost too often coming downstairs from our room." Molly's lips pursed as she regarded Fred and then her eyes fixed on George.   
  
"You had better be a gentleman. I mean it." Cassie could feel the color rising in her face. What did she think was going to happen? George started to protest, apparently thinking along the same lines, but she just waved her hand in dismissal. "Go on, then," and George's mouth closed. He took her hand.   
  
"Obviously, this is the living room." A quick glance revealed a warm and welcoming room, comfortable looking furniture, and a slightly worn looking rug covering the dark wood beams of the floor. The room was wallpapered in a pink and green floral pattern that Cassie thought was quite nice. All in all, she felt like she could have sat right down and felt at home. She would have liked to spend some time looking at the multitude of interesting objects scattered about on nearly every available surface. They were all strange and, to her eyes at least, fascinating. The bookcase was filled to overflowing and she was extremely curious to see what titles comprised their collection. And there were pictures. Lots of framed, moving portraits, obviously of family members, that Cassie thought would be very fun to examine. She could see several that had two small red-headed boys in them, usually dressed in identical clothes, and she really wanted to walk over and take a closer look, but George started taking her toward the stairs and she didn't protest. There would be plenty of time for looking later.   
  
On the first floor, George waved at the closed door. "That's Mum and Dad's room, of course. They have their own small bathroom, but we aren't really allowed to use it. I'm sure you can't believe it, but they say we make a mess." Cassie grinned. Another flight up, which Cassie decided was probably where she had stopped earlier by mistake, George actually opened the door this time. "This is Percy's old room. It's empty now, of course." Cassie couldn't help but hear the bitterness in his voice. She peered inside. It was almost sterile in its cleanliness.   
  
"Is he a bit . . . clean?"   
  
"Yeah. Not the word I would pick. I would more likely use git, but clean describes him pretty well." They both looked around at the bare surfaces of the desk and bedside table. She knew without looking that the armoire would be completely empty. There was not one single personal item in the room. Even the walls' plain cream color showed no indication that a boy or man had ever lived here.   
  
"I thought he had made up with the family pretty much?"  
  
George snorted. "I don't know if it'll ever really be the same. Wait until you meet him. He's a pompous, uh, jerk and he still has never admitted that he was wrong. He insists he was just acting on the best information he had at the time, blah, blah, blah." He shut the door and the finality of the click made Cassie feel a little sad.   
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"I'm not." He looked at her. "That's a lie. I am sorry. I just wish . . . ." His voice trailed off and he didn't finish the sentence. "This is Charlie's room. Did you meet him in June?"  
  
"No. He was hurt during that battle, I think."   
  
"Oh, that's right. How could I forget that? He's great. Really great. He should be here for the holidays. Maybe you can meet him then. He usually works in Romania."  
  
"And he does something with dragons, right?" She looked inside. George didn't answer her but he didn't need to. It was obvious that someone had stayed here a few months ago and had packed up the necessities when they left but much had been left behind. There were posters on the walls - dragons mostly although she saw one of a lady in a very small robe who Cassie thought probably had nothing to do with dragon taming. There were small carvings of dragons all over the bookcase and stacks of papers all over the desk. Some of the carvings were moving and she instinctively reached for George's hand as they stepped further into the room. He looked around and smiled. "I always loved this room. I thought I could maybe move into it after Charlie left, but it is so much him that I couldn't. Didn't want to leave Fred anyway. By then, we were starting our work that eventually became the store, and . . . I don't know. It just never happened."   
  
"It's nice." It was an interesting room with some odd corners and angles that made her think of an attic space or something. It was warm and welcoming. "I can see why you'd like it. He really likes dragons, doesn't he?"  
  
"Loves them. Like you would love any dangerous creature, I suppose. He respects them, though. He isn't a fool." Cassie smiled up at him. It was obvious that the natural worship a boy had for an older brother had bypassed Percy completely and settled on Charlie instead.   
  
"I hope I can meet him. I'd like to." George took a deep breath and then hugged her tightly. For a long moment they stood there and then her arms slipped around his waist and she hugged him back. He kissed her gently on her hair and then her forehead and then she raised her face a little more and he kissed her on the mouth. It was not a brief kiss like the one they had shared downstairs to test the clock. This was one like yesterday and it was wonderful. After a few moments though, he stepped back.   
  
"Come on. We have a lot more to see." They held hands as they ascended the next flight of stairs. The next landing was already looking familiar to her. She studied it carefully so she could find it again. The wooden floor here was a lighter color than the other two had been, maybe indicating that these floors had been added later. She would remember that next time. "This is, of course, Ginny's room and your room for the moment."  
  
"What about that one?"   
  
"That's Bill's room. He doesn't use it often now. He has a flat in London where he usually stays. It's strange having the house so empty when it was always so full when we were growing up. When we were at school, it was easy to forget that everyone was gone, but now . . . I don't know how Mum and Dad stand the emptiness." Then, despite the somber tone of his voice, he smiled. "Of course, Fred and I do our best to make enough noise that they still think all seven of us are here."  
  
"Noble of you."   
  
"I think so." Bill's room was a lot more lived-in looking although it was obviously not anyone's personal space. There were flowers on the bedside table. No desk, but the armoire was slightly open and Cassie thought she could see clothes through the crack. The bed even had a rumpled look like someone had sat or laid on it recently. The curtains were open and she walked over to the window. It was the first time she had actually looked outside and she blinked as her eyes adjusted to the bright winter sunlight. There was no snow here although the bare branches and gray-looking ground testified that it was indeed winter. She supposed that the difference in climate between northern Scotland and southern England was very much evidenced by that fact alone. George stood next to her, looking outside, and then slipped an arm around her shoulders. "Not much to look at in the winter. Much more cheerful in the summer."   
  
"It's not bad. Just wintery. Oh, there's a pond."  
  
"Yes. And before you ask, yes, we do swim there in the summer. This garden is wonderful in the summer - well, except for having to degnome it. That's not fun no matter what, but we've had some great times. We play Quidditch over there." He indicated a large field, "Or just walk around outside enjoying the warmth. Well, we'd better get moving or Mum might send out a search party."   
  
"That was embarrassing. I guess you told her that . . . we, uh . . ." Cassie didn't know where to go from there. Fortunately, George finished up the thought and answered her question.  
  
"She knows I like you. It really couldn't be helped because I kept bringing your name up every other sentence or so this fall and I think my constant fretting over you while you were at Hogwarts made it official."   
  
"You didn't have to fret about me. I was safe and fine."   
  
"Yeah. Sure you were. Snape didn't threaten you, Malfoy treated you like the prince he is, McGonagall wasn't a concern, etc. You were just fine." She laughed in amazement.  
  
"I never told you any of that stuff. Well, except for Malfoy, of course."   
  
"Well, I had a spy. And besides, I can guess. I went there for almost seven years. You don't have to tell me anything."   
  
"Ginny?" He nodded. "I saw the swamp yesterday."   
  
He grinned. "Some of our best work. We sell them now. They're practically legendary."   
  
"Did you know there's a sign there?"  
  
"No."   
  
"Well, there is. It's very nice." He shrugged and Cassie could have sworn he blushed a little although he turned and led her out of the room before she could be certain.   
  
The next landing only had one door off the hall. "Our room. Did you want to look inside?"   
  
"Sure." When the door opened, Cassie stared in amazement. The room was absolutely packed with stuff. It was fairly well organized, but there was just so much of it. She stepped in rather hesitantly, unsure if this was something her mother would approve of.   
  
"That's our inventing station. Never touch anything on there because you could get hurt." Cassie saw that there were several burn marks on the surface of the large table and some others on the floor nearby. She grimaced. She didn't want to know. There was paper everywhere and half-covered objects which looked like they were maybe products that hadn't worked out. There were empty boxes waiting to be packed with items sitting nearby and others that looked like they were being emptied. There was a large shelf with boxes labeled with names she didn't recognize. She turned slowly, taking in the whole space. The walls were full of posters, but unlike Charlie's these were not of animals. These were mostly of ladies, almost all of them in extremely scanty clothing. Cassie was reminded of her dorm room and the handsome winking wizards in the posters. These women were not only winking, though. One poster had what Cassie could only assume was a witch pulling her skirts up very suggestively. Just before it got obscene, the skirts dropped and she started all over again. Her eyes got big and George, who just noticed where she was looking, flushed bright red. "That's Fred's poster. Honestly. That's his bed over there. This is mine." Cassie willed herself not to look at his bed and instead concentrated on his bedside table and the posters over his bed, which although not as bad as that one, were still fairly, uh, revealing. "Sorry. I didn't think about it."   
  
"You don't have to apologize. You can do your room any way you want to." George looked at her for a long minute and she willed herself not to flush or stammer or be embarrassed.   
  
"Do you have posters in your room at your house?"  
  
"Yes. They don't move, though."   
  
"No. I guess they wouldn't. There's only one room left. Come on." As they were stepping back through the open door, Fred came up the steps.   
  
"There you are. Mum's about having kittens. She's sure you're up here 'getting carried away.' I assured her, George, that even though you're a randy berk, Cassie has class and taste and that if you tried anything, you'd be slapped thoroughly." Cassie flushed and hurried out into the hall.   
  
"Fred didn't mean it. He just sometimes forgets that you're not used to his humor. I should hex him into next week."   
  
"So you don't think your Mum is down there actually thinking we're . . . we're . . ."   
  
"Uh, well. No. I didn't say that. I'm pretty sure she actually is." At Cassie's stricken expression, he hurriedly added. "She just doesn't know you yet. And she doesn't trust me. It's nothing against you, truly. It's me."   
  
"Is that your way of saying that you're not trustworthy?"  
  
"No. No. I just mean . . ." And then he caught on that she was teasing him and he grinned. "Do you want to see Ron's room?"   
  
"Is it decorated with Chudley Cannons posters all over and does he have an orange quilt and orange pillow and everything?" At George's nod, she then shook her head. "I've seen a very similar sight at Hogwarts. I think we can pass at the moment."   
  
"Well, sometime I'll show it to you. He's got a small room, but it's interesting. Why don't we get your quills and things and then you can get started on those notes?" Cassie nodded and they descended the one flight of stairs. She slipped into Ginny's room while George stayed outside the door and she opened her trunk to quickly grab out her parchment, ink, and quills. Her eyes fell on a small bag and she grimaced. She grabbed it and then hurriedly left the room.   
  
They made their way downstairs, George carrying the sheets of parchment, and into the kitchen. The note writing went fairly well. She carefully wrote notes to both Ginny and Hermione and then just one for both Harry and Ron. "Do you think that's all right? That I just write one? Ron was so wonderful to me yesterday and then he took detention because of me and everything. And Harry, well, you know. . . ." She didn't get to explain any further because Molly came into the kitchen again at that moment. She had come in once before in the half hour they had been sitting there. She was ostensibly checking on dinner, which Cassie had been certain was a legitimate excuse. George, however, had assured her after Molly had left that food being cooked by magic really did not need to be checked on and that it was just her way of making sure they were behaving themselves. Cassie wondered if it was going to be like this the entire time she was at the Burrow. Her mother, she supposed, would be doing the same thing, but still, it was strange to be checked on constantly.   
  
"So, what did Ronniekins do that was so wonderful yesterday?" George asked as Cassie started writing her note, carefully concentrating on each letter. Her handwriting had improved dramatically since she first wrote with the quill, but it was still not easy to do. So, Cassie told the whole story about the Muggle-repelling charms and about how she had not wanted to go up to the castle and everything. George laughed at her rendition of the tale but his eyes were serious. "I never thought about warning you about those."   
  
"No. That's all right. If I ever go back there, I'll be warned in advance." She finished the note and waited for the ink to dry. "Is Icharus around somewhere?"   
  
"Yes, but I don't think we should use my owl to send the notes." George went on to explain how his owl was well-known and that it would be too big a clue as to her location if he were to deliver them. "Fred just got a new owl and he would be the best choice." So ten minutes later, they finished tying the small bundle to the owl's leg and it went out the window into the pale blue sky.   
  
She reached into her pocket slowly and pulled out the small bag she had found in her trunk. "George, this is probably stupid but I bought this for you yesterday and forgot to give it to you." She pulled out the small Quidditch team sticker and handed it to him. He beamed at it.   
  
"Thank you. This is great."  
  
"I bet you already have a lot of them."   
  
"No, actually. I don't. And I know just where to put it upstairs, too. Did you buy one for yourself?" She nodded hesitantly, embarrassed to admit it. "Here. Give me that one. Which sound do you prefer, screeching falcons, hooting owls, or an alarm bell?"   
  
"What? Uh, owls, I guess." She had no clue what that question was about. George took his wand and waved it over both stickers as they lay side by side on the table. As he finished, he handed her sticker back to her.   
  
"They're linked now. Permanently. If I touch mine, yours will hoot and tell you to touch it. And the same goes for me. That way, we'll always know what the other person is doing right at that moment." Cassie stared at the sticker in shock. She hesitantly put her finger onto the surface of the sticker and then George's which was still laying on the table, hooted softly. He put his finger onto his sticker and it quieted. Cassie felt a low warmth under the surface of her finger, indicating that he was doing what he was supposed to. "You don't mind, do you? I guess I should have asked."  
  
"No. I don't mind. That's very nice, really." She decided she would lay it next to her bed on the table and every night before she went to sleep, she would touch it. Molly came bustling in again and George rolled his eyes at Cassie, who smiled.   
  
"Before it gets any colder this afternoon, how about a walk around outside? I'll show you the limits to the wards and everything so you don't get into trouble with them." They both stood there for a second, waiting to see if Molly would say anything, but she didn't and Cassie nodded in reply.   
  
"That sounds nice. Thank you." She slipped her sticker into her pocket and George's hooted again. "Oh, I forgot." She laid it with her other things on the table. "I'll just take that up with these things really fast and get my heavy robes." George waited downstairs but as Cassie descended a few minutes later, robes clasped in her arms, she heard George and his mother arguing in the kitchen. She stopped on the landing, not wanting to eavesdrop but not wanting to interrupt either.   
  
"She's 16, George. 16! What if it was Ginny?"   
  
"What if it was Ginny? If she really liked the bloke, I wouldn't have a problem with it."   
  
"Does she really like you, though? She's very vulnerable right now and I feel responsible to Rebecca for her. Maybe she just needs some security with everything going on."  
  
"I'm not going to hurt her. I like her. She's special to me and I promise you, I have no ill intentions with her at all."   
  
"George. I know I'm your mother, but you can't tell me that you haven't had experience with women. Women who, uh, were more experienced than Cassie is."   
  
"I won't tell you that, Mum. But I will tell you that I would never hurt her, never. I will take care of her the best way I can." This was intolerable. Cassie was sure her face was glowing bright red now and so she walked up a few more steps and then clunked heavily on them, making sure they knew she was descending. The argument ceased immediately and by the time she reached the kitchen, Molly had left the room and George was sitting there waiting for her. He noticed her flush even though she desperately tried to act natural. "I suppose you heard that."  
  
She nodded. "I'm sorry. I'm causing problems."  
  
"You are not causing problems at all. It's her. She's convinced I'm going to jump on you or something and take advantage of you. I think she just is feeling protective because you're Ginny's age." She nodded again. "I'll talk to her later about what . . . we feel about each other."  
  
"So, you know what you feel about me?" she asked a few minutes later as they walked carefully over the frozen ground toward the edge of the makeshift Quidditch pitch.   
  
"I think so." He stopped. "You mean a lot to me, Cassie. More than I really have wanted to admit. It's too soon to say I love you. But, that's where I think it's leading. Is that okay with you?" She stared at him for a long moment and George looked down at his shoes. "If it's not, I can . . .stop somehow, or something." His voice trailed off into nothingness.  
  
"Can you? Because I don't think I could stop now, no matter how hard I tried." He looked up and the light in his eyes almost frightened her in its intensity. "See, George. I've been trying for months to convince myself that it would be best for everyone if I didn't feel that way about you, but my stubborn heart just won't listen to me." He laughed and pulled her close and, uncaring that they were standing in the frozen mud, he kissed her, very nicely, and she realized that she probably did not need her heavy robes. She was unaccountably warm.   
  
They had just returned to the house and were cleaning the mud off their shoes as best they could before George did a Scourgify spell on them when a loud pop announced Arthur's return. He had a suitcase in one hand, a bag in the other, and a letter clamped between his teeth. Molly, who had run into the kitchen quickly, took the letter and he set both the bag and the suitcase down on the floor. "I think you asked for five outfits. Your mother, who seemed overjoyed that you were away from Hogwarts, sent at least 15, maybe more. And this letter is for you, of course." Cassie stared at the envelope, wanting desperately to open it, but feeling like maybe she should remove her clothes from their kitchen first.   
  
"Go ahead, dear. I'm sure you're anxious to hear what your family has to say." Needing no further encouragement, she smiled at Molly and ripped open the thick envelope. As she pulled out the folded paper from inside, she noticed that two other pieces of paper fluttered to the floor. She didn't pay too much attention, thinking they were probably notes from her two brothers.   
  
"Hey, one of these is addressed to me. What is this, Cassie?" She was skimming the letter quickly and she barely heard George's question. But when she reached the bottom of the letter, her eyes grew round and she stared in horror at her own note which now lay on the table and to the opened letter in George's hand. He was reading it carefully, his eyebrows raised in what she hoped was amusement, although it could have just as easily been shock.   
  
"Uh. Give that back. It's nothing. My mum's idea of a joke and everything." She tried to grab the paper out of his hand, but he just stood up and raised it out of her reach as he continued to scan the contents quickly. She tried to jump, but he was still too tall for her and she couldn't reach the blasted thing.   
  
"No. This is addressed to me and I intend to read it thoroughly. Read your own. I'm sure it is the same as mine."   
  
Cassie reluctantly picked up her own letter and opened it up. A quick look revealed that it was as bad as she had feared. The note from her mum read, "Dear Cassie, I would be lying if I told you that I wasn't worried about you there at the Burrow. I don't know George at all but I know you like him, which tells me he must be pretty wonderful. And I think that the close proximity with someone you feel deeply about could lead to some problems. I am including this list of rules, adapted to the fact that you are now living in the same house as George. Please know that I am doing this, not because I hate you or because I don't trust you, but just the opposite. I love you dearly and I trust you to do the right thing. I just want to make sure that when you come back home to me, you are happy and have nothing to regret.   
  
Don't be alone after 10:30 p.m.!!  
Make the goodnight kiss a short kiss.  
No kissing longer than 10 to 15 minutes at a time.  
Kiss only with the lips - you know what I mean.  
Don't sit and snuggle in the dark - you're just asking for trouble.  
No back or neck massages.  
Dress modestly -just because you're in the same house doesn't mean you can parade around in your pyjamas, etc.  
Absolutely do not be alone in a bedroom.   
Absolutely do not let George get onto or into your bed with you!"  
  
They were the same basic rules she remembered from before, just slightly adapted, like her mum had written, for the fact that they were going to be in a lot closer contact than she and Harry had been. She sighed and folded up the note. Then she braved a glance over at George, who had folded his note as well.   
  
George hesitated a moment and then cleared his throat. "It sounds like your mother is a little worried that we might . . . ." He was interrupted by her small squeak.   
  
"Yeah. I think that sums it up pretty well."   
  
"Well, between your mum and mine, I don't think we'll have too much chance to do anything."   
  
"No. I suppose not."   
  
"Your mum doesn't seem to mind that we kiss, though."   
  
"No. Thank heavens she does not have a problem with that." He pulled her close to him and held her for a minute.   
  
"It's really for the best, you know. You are still very young, as my mum so pointedly reminded me earlier."   
  
"I feel about 100 years old."   
  
"That can happen when you're fighting a war. I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes I have to remind myself I'm not even 20 yet." He let her go and Cassie wanted to complain and pull close to him again but she stood there alone and picked up the suitcase and bag.   
  
"I'll run these up to my room and then I think it's almost dinner time, isn't it?"   
  
"I think so."  
  
"I'll hurry back down then and help Molly get it on the table."   
  
"She'd probably appreciate that. Do you need help with the bags?"  
  
"No. I think I'll be all right." She picked up the bags. "This will be fine. They're not heavy." George had a look on his face that told Cassie he wasn't sure if he should insist on helping or not, but his eyes strayed to her note which was still laying on the table. It was almost like she could see him mentally weighing the list of rules against the rudeness of leaving her to carry her luggage herself.   
  
"I could at least carry them up the steps."  
  
"Okay. Sure." A few minutes later, he set the bags in front of her door.   
  
"There you go. I'll . . . be downstairs. Maybe we could set the table together or something." She smiled at him.   
  
"Sounds very romantic." His laughter echoed up the staircase as he descended. Cassie opened the door into Ginny's room and realized that she wasn't going to be doing anything in here right now. She sat the bags down and exited the room almost immediately. She descended the stairs again but the kitchen was empty. She tentatively poked her head through the door and saw all four of the Weasleys gathered around a coffee table. George looked fairly concerned and Cassie felt a nervous jump in her stomach.   
  
"Is something wrong?"   
  
"You could say that." George turned and drew her into their little circle. "We just got an urgent owl from Dumbledore. He warned us that Nightscall has just declared all Order members as enemies of the Ministry and has issued arrest warrants for all of them."   
  
"What?! Why would he do that? I don't understand."   
  
"Apparently, he says it's just for questioning, but Dumbledore does not really believe that." Arthur's lips were pursed and tight as he muttered this.   
  
"But . . . but that means you are all going to be arrested, doesn't it?"   
  
"No. At least not yet. You see, most Order members are not known to the Ministry. They know about Dumbledore, of course, and are trying to arrest him right away. But then he is also accused of actually leading the attack on Fudge. We think Lupin is in serious trouble, though. It is pretty generally accepted that he is an Order Member, and as a werewolf his whereabouts are carefully monitored anyway. So, Dumbledore is trying to figure out where he is right now. Bloody bad timing, I'm afraid, since tonight is the full moon. On the good side, maybe they'll try to arrest him while he's transformed. He'd probably eat them." George laughed evilly and everyone in the tense little knot smiled.   
  
Cassie couldn't believe that her gentle friend could actually eat anybody, but she did feel really sorry for Remus. Poor man just needed a few days of peace and quiet and instead he was likely to be arrested. Fred continued the explanation. "Dumbledore wants us to continue doing the things we normally do, George and I should keep working at the shop, Dad can go into work, and Mum should do her various errands and things." Cassie grasped George's hand firmly. That scared her, but of course he had to do the things he had to do just like she had to. There was no time or space for fear or hesitancy.   
  
"Okay. Then that is what you all must do, and I will help however I can, too."  
  
"Thank you, Cassie." Molly looked like she wanted to say more but she was interrupted by George, who looked at her curiously.   
  
"What are you doing down here? You can't have finished unpacking already."   
  
"No. I couldn't do anything. It's very dark in there and I couldn't figure out how to turn on the light. Sorry."   
  
"Just use your wand, dear, and light the lamps. There is one on the desk and one near the bed." Cassie did a double take. What had she just said? But before she could say anything, Arthur cleared his throat and jumped into the conversation.   
  
"I thought these might come in handy. I bought them in the village when I knew you were coming." He drew something out of his pocket and held his palm open with his prize proudly displayed for all five of them to see. It was a box of matches. Cassie smiled in gratitude but Molly froze. She looked at the box of matches on her husband's palm and then at Cassie. Then back at the matches, and finally back at Cassie. But when she spoke, she addressed her husband.   
  
"Why would she need those? She can just light the lamp with her wand."   
  
"Actually, Molly. She can't." Molly's brows furrowed and Cassie felt like running back up the stairs to her room. But she stood still and faced what was obviously coming.  
  
"I can't use my wand, Molly, for a very simple reason, I-"   
  
George interrupted her suddenly. "Mum, there's something you should know about Cassie. She's a Muggle."


	45. Reaction

Chapter 45  
Reaction  
  
The silence after George made this statement was absolute. Cassie wasn't sure if she should be the one to break it or not. Finally, after what seemed like an hour but was probably no more than 30 seconds, Arthur cleared his throat.   
  
"Yes. Yes. Sorry, Molly. I meant to tell you before . . . she arrived."   
  
Molly was sitting there staring at George like she was waiting for him to laugh and admit he was playing a practical joke. At Arthur's words, though, her eyes snapped over to him.   
  
"You meant to tell me? Meant to tell me? How hard would it have been to just slip that into conversation? And how long have you known this?" Her gaze sharpened on George again, but Cassie was fairly certain that Arthur wasn't going to get off the hook that easily.   
  
"Since yesterday, if you must know. And don't start into me again about going to Hogsmeade. I went to see Cassie and I'm glad I did. We had a wonderful day."  
  
"I . . .I . . ." Her lips pursed tightly together and her eyes moved rapidly between her husband and George like she couldn't decide who to yell at first or longest. Fred was looking supremely innocent in his seat although Cassie noticed the Molly's eyes darted over him occasionally as well. "I can't believe it . . . I . . . Hogwarts for an entire week? I . . . How? I mean, are you sure?" She looked at Cassie now. "Are you really . . . a Muggle?" Cassie nodded slowly, unsure how to feel about this new development. She had, of course, assumed the Molly would have known by now - that George would have mentioned it if Arthur had never done so. Obviously, however, she was wrong.   
  
"I assumed you knew. I'm sorry." Molly shook her head.   
  
"I . . .I'm . . well, I'm angry, to tell the truth!" And she glared at Arthur. "You knew what I thought! It wasn't just forgetting to tell me! It was on purpose! And why? Why? I don't understand!"   
  
"Well, Molly, I just. . . I just . . ."  
  
George touched her on the arm. "Come on." Fred stood up, too, and Cassie thought they both looked eager to get away from what seemed to be a fairly large argument brewing. Fred grabbed the small box of matches off the table where Arthur had set it and jerked his head toward the steps. Cassie and George followed him up the steps.   
  
"That's going to be a fight I would rather not hear. Let's go see if we can figure out how these things work." All three of them practically ran up the steps to Ginny's room and stepped inside. Fred pointed his wand toward the door and uttered what Cassie recognized as the silencing charm. "At least they fight fast. I'd say 10 minutes and it'll all be over." The room was dark and Cassie tried to see where the bed was so she could sit down. George lit his wand but it was too late for Fred who tripped over the suitcase Cassie had left in the middle of the floor. "Oooh!" He sat up and rubbed his shin. "Cassie! You could have warned me!"   
  
Cassie smiled wanly, finding the bed easily in the wandlight and sitting down on the end. "I'm sorry. I caused a big problem didn't I?"   
  
"No, it won't even bruise." Fred had pulled up his pant leg and was examining the sore spot where his leg had hit the suitcase. George snorted.  
  
"She doesn't mean your leg, idiot. She means with Mum and Dad." Fred's eyebrows raised.   
  
"Oh. Uh, sorry."   
  
George answered Cassie. "No. You didn't cause the problem. And I don't know what Mum's having kittens about. Even if we had told her, nothing would have changed. I just think she was caught by surprise and she feels like a fool, so she's taking it out on Dad." Fred nodded sagely.   
  
"So she doesn't hate me or anything?"  
  
"Hate you? Why would she hate you?"  
  
"I don't know." Cassie groaned. "She looked less than thrilled to find out about me." 

"Mum likes Muggles, Cassie. She would have a hard time being married to Dad if she didn't. She was just embarrassed, that's all. Now, come on. Let's get these lamps lit." Fred held up the box of matches. "How do these things work?"   
  
"You don't know how to light a match?"   
  
"Nope. Sorry."   
  
"That's funny. Here." She took the box from Fred and struck the match. Both George and Fred oooh'd for a second at the sight of the flame. "See? It just makes a small fire. I guess I can light the lamps with this." She looked rather questioningly at the two lamps in the room. She had seen lamps like that before in old museums and things but that didn't mean she was comfortable lighting one. "Anyone got any ideas?" Apparently no one did. George showed how simple it was for him to stick his wand down the chimney of the lamp and light what Cassie assumed was a wick but she couldn't get her hand holding the match down there. She thought about having George make the matches the long ones like you could get to light fireplaces, but she decided she would try something else first. She carefully pulled off the top part of the lamp which to her pleasant surprise exposed the wick very nicely. "Okay . . . I think we're getting somewhere." She lit another match but the wick didn't light. It took the three of them about five minutes to figure out how to turn the wick up a little so that it would light easily. Then Cassie replaced the glass top and was pleased to see that it kept burning. "Okay. That'll work. Nice." She lit the other one with a minimum of trouble and then looked around the room. It was much nicer with the lamps lit although she was reminded rather forcefully of the fact that she still had to remove all those pictures of Harry. She was about to recruit the twins to help her when Fred released the silencing spell.   
  
"Let's see if the fireworks are over." As soon as the silencing charm was removed, they all jumped at the pounding on the door. It sounded like whoever was out there was getting impatient. Fred opened the door. "It wasn't locked. You could have come in." He said to whomever was on the other side. His father walked in and looked around.   
  
"I wasn't sure who was in here. Oh, you've already lit the lamps." He looked longingly at the box of matches. "Did they work? I really wanted to see them."   
  
"Dad! What happened with Mum?" Fred looked impatiently at his father.  
  
"Oh." Arthur flushed slightly. "She's fine, of course. Truthfully, boys, er, and Cassie. She wasn't mad, just embarrassed. I told her that she had nothing to be embarrassed about." He picked up the matches, looking at the six already burned ones Cassie had set next to it. "Oooh. These are the already used ones, of course. Hmmm. Can they be reused at all?" There was a tentative knock on the door and Molly joined what was turning into a large crowd in the small room.   
  
"Cassie, I just wanted to apologize. I embarrassed you and made you feel bad and I really didn't mean to."   
  
"It's all right. I'm sorry I didn't mention it myself." Molly hugged her tightly.   
  
"You have nothing to be sorry for. Boys, go down and set the table. I'm going to help Cassie unpack her things." George and Fred both groaned but along with Arthur they left the room. Cassie lifted both the suitcase and the bag onto the bed.   
  
"You don't need to help me, Molly. I can take care of this quickly."   
  
"Well, I don't know what Ginny has left behind and . . .Ooh, such lovely things." Over the next few minutes, she helped Cassie find room for all of her things in the drawers and Cassie was actually glad she had stayed. The drawers seemed to be just the right size for the things already in them and on several occasions, Molly expanded drawers or things and moved Ginny's clothes around to make room for Cassie's clothes. "There. Everything's away and you won't have to worry about it later." They hadn't talked about very much and Cassie was grateful. She had expected the third degree about George, but Molly had seemed strangely reluctant to bring up that topic. "Well, the boys should be done with getting the table set and the food was already cooked, so why don't you come on down and we'll eat." Cassie had a difficult time extinguishing the lamps and Molly finally did it using magic, which made Cassie feel like a fool.   
  
"I'll have to figure something out. I can't have one of you running in here every time I need the lamps off." Molly just nodded but Cassie felt like she didn't really hold out much hope for her working something out. She followed Molly down the stairs, holding on tight to the handrail because she really did not want to fall into her. Cassie sniffed appreciatively at the wonderful smells rising from the kitchen. "Something smells really good, Molly. I didn't realize how hungry I was until just this moment."   
  
"Good. I hope you like it. It's one of my children's favorite meals." The table was set when they stepped off the stairs and Cassie felt bad she hadn't done anything to help. Everyone sat down while Molly carried several platters over to the table and set them down.   
  
"I've made a nice roast. I hope that's all right, Cassie?" At Cassie's nod, she continued. "I would really like to hear how you survived at Hogwarts the entire week, though. Arthur said he had no idea how you had done it. You don't know, do you boys?" They both shook their heads and Cassie's eyes narrowed slightly. George had a twinkle in his eye that made her rather suspicious. But George really didn't know how she had tricked everyone - he had asked yesterday and said he wanted to hear the whole story later. She turned her attention back to Molly, who was busy piling everyone's plate with large slices of roast. "And I've got pumpkin juice to drink as well as water. Do you like pumpkin juice? I mean, Muggles don't usually drink it, do they?"   
  
"No. They don't usually drink it. But I like it." Cassie smiled faintly. "I'll be happy to tell you the story of how I managed at Hogwarts. But I can't take any of the credit. It was mainly Hermione who thought of all the tricks." She cut into the tender roast and took a large bite. She chewed happily and then stopped, her eyes widening slightly as the taste flooded her mouth. Arthur and Molly had also taken large bites of roast and were now sitting there staring at their plates. "This is really good, Molly." Cassie took a large swallow of water and forced the bite down her throat. She felt like if she tried, she could breathe fire. The peppery taste of the roast was incredibly strong. As the burning increased, she hurriedly took a bite of mashed potatoes. Those were good and she chewed slowly. She took another bite of roast and once again had to force it down with a swallow of water. Her eyes were practically tearing now and she dared a glance up at Molly. Maybe it was a wizard custom to use that much pepper. Molly was staring at her own plate in horror, before she took a big drink of water, only to stand with shock after a second.   
  
"I don't . . . I don't understand. Something is seriously wrong with this roast. Arthur! Is yours doing the same thing?" Arthur literally had tears running down the side of his face as he valiantly chewed his third bite of meat.   
  
"Yes. I think you over-seasoned the meat, dear." He choked out as he swallowed.   
  
"I didn't use any more than usual, really. Just . . . a little right at the beginning."   
  
"Are you sure, Mum? Maybe you added some every time you came in to check on Cassie and me? That would have meant you added it, oh, maybe six times or so." Molly's eyes narrowed and she studied the twins. They both had tears running down their faces as well, but Cassie could tell neither of them had done more than cut the meat and push it around on their plates.   
  
"What did you do to my dinner?" For a small woman, Molly Weasley could look exceptionally mean and Cassie almost shrunk down into her chair before remembering that all the anger was not directed toward her at all.   
  
"Nothing! Honestly nothing!" Fred splurted, but Cassie could tell he was really trying hard not to laugh. Cassie swallowed another huge gulp of water, trying to quench the burning, but to her amazement, the feeling of heat only increased. The look in George's eye is what convinced her that neither twin was innocent in this prank. He was almost looking sorry as she reached for the goblet of pumpkin juice, hoping that the cold would douse the burning in her mouth and throat.   
  
"Don't lie to me, Fred! I know that either one of you or both of you put some kind of charm on this roast! I want it removed right now!" She pulled her wand out and pointed it at the two boys. "Or your father will make you wish you had never been born!" Cassie almost laughed then as she fanned her open mouth with a napkin. Molly sounded so much like her mother threatening Matthew right then that it was almost like being back home. Of course, her mother never held a wand on Matthew, but other than that . . .  
  
"Okay, fine, fine. A simple hex, really." Fred waved his wand over the roast and all of their plates. "But I'm not taking all the blame. It was George's idea!"   
  
"I can't believe you would do that on the first night we have company! How embarrassing." Molly sat back down but put her wand down at the side of her plate. "If this isn't good, I'm going to hex you both into next week - and I mean it."   
  
"It's back to normal - but I'm not taking the blame if it's not good!" George laughed, but Cassie noticed that he actually speared a piece of roast with his fork and ate it. She tentatively took a bite herself and after chewing for a second realized that it was really good. Molly and Arthur were doing the same thing and both of them visibly relaxed as they chewed. Molly glared at her two sons.   
  
"Unbelievable. You two! Will you ever grow up?" But despite the glare, Cassie did not think she was really that mad. Molly then looked at her. "I apologize for them. Is your dinner all right now?"   
  
"Yes, thank you. It's very good." They all ate in silence for a few minutes.   
  
"So, Cassie. You were going to tell us what you did to fool everyone in Hogwarts." George smiled at her.   
  
"I told you the basic plan. Someone else did the magic and I pretended I did it. It was pretty basic most of the time. I did have occasion to use one of your wands though, George and Fred. For Professor McGonagall" She told them the story about the rats and rabbits and how she had used one of the dragon-head wands to get out of doing the magic. "So, we just acted like it had been a genuine misunderstanding. Ron was pretty sure he would get detention, but for some reason Professor McGonagall didn't give him one." Everyone laughed at the picture she had painted of the stunned look on everyone's face and even Molly admitted (albeit grudgingly) that the twins' wands actually had some useful purpose.   
  
"Although, boys, you had to admit that the chances of someone else needing a fake wand so they can get out of doing a magic Transfiguration are pretty small." George and Fred had to agree with that but they were grinning broadly nonetheless.   
  
"But what happened the next time- how did you get out of it again? Minerva wouldn't believe you had accidentally grabbed the wrong wand twice!" Cassie looked around at their eager faces.   
  
"No. Hermione had a different plan for that day." Cassie thought for a minute. "How about if I tell you about it tomorrow?" They all looked disappointed, but Cassie was really exhausted and knew that if she started talking about using the yucky potion, it would be a long story. It must have been obvious on her face because Molly clucked her tongue.   
  
"Of course, of course. It's been a tiring day for you. So much going on - I think you should head up to bed."   
  
"I want to help you clean up. I don't want you to have to do it all."   
  
"Thank you, dear. But I don't mind and I have two sturdy sons to help me if I need it." George and Fred both groaned but neither of them ran out of the kitchen at her words. "Would you like a bubble bath? Ginny always says that lovely as the showers are at school, there is nothing quite so indulgent as a nice long bubble bath when she gets home."   
  
"Yes, that does sound lovely. Thank you."   
  
"I think you'll be able to work the faucets. You haven't had a hard time with that here, have you?" Cassie shook her head. Just like at Hogwarts, the faucets seemed to work on basic principles which she was grateful for. "And I think there's some bubble bath in the cupboards. Ginny likes the kind with the blue lid."   
  
"Thank you. I really appreciate it." Cassie climbed the steps once again to the landing and entered the small bathroom. The tub was surprisingly large for the small space and she sighed with happiness at the thought of soaking for a long while in warm water. She turned on the faucets, carefully checking the heat several times. She found the bubble bath in one of the cupboards, next to items that she did not recognize at all and she read the label carefully on the bottle before pouring in a small amount. The scent of vanilla was very strong and Cassie smiled appreciatively. Ginny always smelled like vanilla. It must be her favorite scent. That was fine. It was nice. She left the water running and went down to the bedroom to change. It was dark again, of course, and she hurriedly lit one of the lamps so she could change out of her clothes. It was only then that she remembered that all these pictures of Harry were still on the walls. So, blowing out her breath in frustration, she grabbed her bathrobe and nightgown as well as her toiletry bag and blew out the lamp again. She would undress in the bathroom. She really had to get these pictures down before morning. Trying to avoid getting undressed in her own bedroom was really not tolerable anymore. She looked at the lamp and considered just leaving them burning but decided against it. She would feel terrible if there was an accident and something else in the room caught fire because of the lamp getting too hot. But how to put it out? She looked around for a minutes or two. She thought that if she covered the top of the chimney of the lamp and blocked any new oxygen from getting down to the flame it would go out fairly quickly. But with what?  
  
She tentatively laid her hand on the top of the chimney. It was hot, but not burning. So she walked over to her trunk, opened it, and pulled out her potions book. It was thick and she didn't care if she melted it or burned a big ring in the cover. It wasn't like it was going to be of any use to her later in her life. She carried the book over the lamp and carefully laid it on top. As she expected, the flame immediately dimmed and about a minute later went out completely. She removed the book and was pleasantly surprised that it didn't relight immediately. That had worked well and she would keep doing it that way if nothing else came to mind.  
  
As she stepped back down the hall, holding her nightgown and bathrobe, she noticed the door was closed. Her eyebrows rose. She was positive she had left it open. She turned the knob and was momentarily panicked when it was locked. Oh, no! She had to get in to turn off the water. Otherwise, it would overflow. She had just decided that she had better ask for some help, no matter how embarrassing it was going to be, when the knob turned from the inside and George stepped through the door. She blushed profusely. Of course, other people had to use the bathroom. If this was the only one for the three of them, then she had probably been extremely rude starting the water immediately. And maybe Fred would want to use it, too. Should she ask?   
  
"Are you all done? Uh, downstairs, I mean." Great, she thought. That had come out all wrong. He grinned at her, as though sensing her discomfort and thinking it was funny.   
  
"Yes. All finished. The bath looks nice."  
  
"Um, yeah. I think so." This was definitely not the sort of conversation she wanted to be having with her boyfriend. "I'll just be going in . . . uh, yeah."   
  
"How long do you think you're going to be?"  
  
"I don't know. Why?" She wanted to take a nice long soak but she wasn't sure whether to admit it or not. Maybe they'd think she was wasting hot water or something. She had no idea how they got hot water - obviously not using gas or electric water heaters. Maybe there wasn't much of it available.   
  
"I think Fred may want to get in at some point. I could tell him to come up now."   
  
"Yeah. Maybe that would be best. I wouldn't want to inconvenience anyone." So she turned off the water and leaned against the wall in the hall, blushing furiously as Fred came up from downstairs in response to George's call, locked the door, and emerged a few minutes later. He studied her for a minute as he passed by.   
  
"Don't be too embarrassed. We're pretty used to sharing around here. It doesn't bother us." Cassie smiled faintly and then slipped into the bathroom and closed the door. It might not embarrass them, but it certainly was something she was not used to. She hoped that she could get used to it. If it was bad with just three of them sharing, she hated to imagine what it was going to be like when the other kids arrived from Hogwarts. Then there would be seven of them. Whoa!   
  
She undressed quickly, peeling off her clothes and piling them into a neat bundle. She sank into the warm water with a sigh. However they got warm water, it seemed to be very effective. This was heavenly. The bubbles were the thickest she had ever seen. It was wonderful. She had no idea how long she stayed in the tub and thought that she may even have fallen asleep at one point. It wasn't until her fingers and toes were all pruny that she pulled herself out of the warmth of the tub. No wonder Ginny liked to take a bubble bath. No shower could possibly compare to this. She dried with one of the thick towels hanging on the nearby rail and pulled her flannel nightgown over her head. The nightgown had been perfect in the cold stone dorm room but it was much to warm for this house. She thought for a few moments as she brushed out her hair about what other options she had for pyjamas but there was nothing else. Darn it. And she was too self-conscious to sleep without anything on. She pulled the bathrobe over her gown and gathered up her clothes. Then she realized that she hadn't dumped the bathtub yet. That actually took longer than she thought. It was not magical, but the drain was old-fashioned and stubborn and it took all her strength before it would open and the water gurgled through the pipes.   
  
She took her clothes in her arms again and went back to Ginny's room. It was, of course, dark again and she thought that using the matches to light these lamps was going to be very tedious indeed. Well, it was only until Friday. Then Ginny would be back and she could light them the easy way. But, she lit the one on the bedside table and set her clothes in a neat pile by the bed. She had no idea how Molly did the laundry, but she would find out tomorrow and ask if she could somehow help. She felt like Molly was busy enough without adding extra work on her behalf.   
  
Now that the lamp was lit, she started the slow task of taking down all of Harry's pictures. To her relief, they were only pinned up or taped up, much like her friends did for their own posters at home. No magical sticking charms or anything that she would have to get through. She started at one corner of the room and started methodically removing all the pictures, piling them face down on the dresser. It sounded stupid, but she apologized to each one as she laid it down on its predecessor. They looked less than thrilled but Cassie refused to allow herself to feel guilty. The fact that they knew they would now be facing nothing but blank space convinced her even more that they needed to be removed. It was obvious they were sentient to what was going on around them and that would certainly include her undressing. There were really not a hundred pictures, Cassie thought there were probably more like 50. She sincerely hoped Ginny was not too angry with her when she saw what she had done to them.   
  
It was interesting to study the different pictures as she removed them. Some of them were of a very young Harry - maybe from when Ginny first met him. There were some of him on the back of his broom, and a lot of pictures of him from when he was apparently 14. She stopped and read a newspaper article or two about some sort of tournament that had happened when he was 14 that he had participated in. It was from the second article that she realized this was the year he had fought the dragon. There was no picture of him with the dragon, which Cassie sort of felt bad about. It would have been interesting. It was the most recent pictures, though, that Cassie found most fascinating. Most of them were with Ginny and she liked the relaxed look on his face when they were together. There were several framed pictures which she carefully turned over where they stood and it was then that she found the last newspaper article. It was folded up behind one of the frames and as she moved the frame, it fell out. She picked it up and realized with a start that it was the front page to the Daily Prophet from early last June. The day the newspaper announced to the entire wizarding world that Harry Potter was dead.   
  
With trembling fingers, Cassie spread the newspaper article out on her bed and smoothed the creases. She wondered why Ginny had saved it - now that she knew it had all been just a trick. There was an old picture of Harry in the article but Ginny already had this picture. Cassie remembered taking it off her wall not long ago. So that was not it. She read the article slowly. Yes, she had heard the story of Harry's life from him that night on the couch many months before, but as had been brought home to her during Remus's introduction to Harry before his lecture in Defense, she didn't know everything about him. In fact, she probably knew very little. Harry tended to be very modest and did not like to talk much about himself. After she was finished, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. It wasn't that the article was so impressive. It was just that it was brought home again to her how hard Harry's death must have hit Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. She remembered that night - was it only Wednesday? - when Harry was off fighting. That had been terrible. She folded up the newspaper article again and put it back on the frame. She wiped her face again and grabbed a Kleenex from her bag and blew her nose. She was tired and needed to go to sleep. Cassie didn't even know why she was crying because Harry wasn't dead. She sniffled again, though, and got into bed. Then she remembered she would have to put out the lamp and got up again intending to put the potions book back up on the chimney. She heard a quiet knock on her door and walked over to it. She was not surprised to see George standing out in the hall, looking a little sheepish.   
  
"I thought you might have fallen asleep with the lamps on."   
  
"No. I was taking the pictures off the walls." His brows drew together.  
  
"The pictures?"   
  
"Yes. I am not going to undress in front of pictures of Harry Potter."   
  
"Oh." He looked a little confused, but then apparently decided not to argue about it. "Did you finish?" She nodded. "You look upset. Is something wrong?"   
  
She shook her head. "I was just reading and it made me a little sad." He took her hand and pulled her gently out into the hall. She laughed nervously. "I'm not dressed very well. I was just getting into bed." His eyes flared and she stepped back into the room. "Let me get my robe." He waited outside the room while she grabbed her bathrobe. Before she went back into the hall, she hurriedly looked in the mirror. Her eyes were red and her nose also looked red. But otherwise she looked all right. She shyly entered the hall again, where George was waiting. "Hi."   
  
"What were you reading?"  
  
Cassie considered for a minute. Should she tell him? "Nothing, really. And I don't know why I'm crying." He drew her close to him and hugged her tightly.   
  
"I'm so glad you're here." She laid her head against his shoulder and just breathed in the smell that she was quickly coming to associate with him. "Are you sure you're not crying because of, uh, Mum and everything? The lamps, and the bathroom, and the . . . ."  
  
"The dinner?" She laughed and his arms tightened around her. She closed her eyes and thought that she could easily have gone to sleep right here, standing in his arms. "No. And I'm not crying anymore. I was crying. But it wasn't anything to do with the house, or your mum, or the lamps, or dinner."   
  
"You're positive?"  
  
"Absolutely positive. I'm glad to be here, too."   
  
"If Malfoy hadn't been giving you so much grief, I guess you wouldn't be here yet, so maybe I should thank him."   
  
"No you shouldn't, George. You definitely shouldn't. He was horrible to me." He put her away from him a little bit, looking down into her face.   
  
"I'm sorry. I was just teasing." She nodded and smiled as he pulled her close again. "Cassie, I-"  
  
"George Weasley! Let the girl go to sleep! You go up to your room and leave her alone!" The disembodied voice came up the steps but Cassie knew that his mother would certainly be up there in a moment if she thought anything was going on that shouldn't be.  
  
"Yes, Mum. I'm going. I was just checking on her!" He hugged her tightly and then bent his head to kiss her. The kiss was fast but then he kissed her again and then once more. Cassie couldn't help but smile as he bent his head for the fourth time.  
  
"I mean it! Get up to bed! Now!"   
  
"I'm going! I'm going!" Cassie flushed and stepped back into Ginny's room. George looked disgusted but let her go. "Fred and I go to work early, so I may not see you until tomorrow night." Cassie nodded, not wanting to admit that she had not even thought about his leaving every day to go to work. But, of course, he had to.   
  
"NOW!"  
  
"Yes, Mum!" He walked over to the stairs. "Goodnight, Cassie."   
  
"Goodnight, George." He walked up the stairs, but glanced back at least once. She waved and then shut the door. Oh, this was better than she could even have imagined. The thought of being held by him like that every night while she was here was enough to make her heart beat a little faster. She extinguished the lamp and climbed into bed, pulling the covers up and then pushing all the blankets back down and just leaving the sheet up around her neck. It was very warm in this house and her flannel nightgown was more than enough. She tossed and turned for a moment before getting up and walking over to the window. When she drew back the curtains, the moonlight flooded in and she looked for a long moment up at the full moon. It was beautiful but she thought that she would never be able to look at the full moon again without thinking about Remus, suffering as the rest of the world went on in ignorance. She looked out over the trees and other landscaping around the house. It looked really different in the moonlight but it looked interesting and she hoped that at some point she could explore the outside some more. After a few minutes she went back and laid down in bed. As she lay there for a moment in the half darkness, she imagined that she could hear George moving in the room above her. It could have just been the natural shifting of the house, but it sounded like footsteps.   
  
She heard the soft hooting a moment later and for a second was confused. Then she remembered. The sticker! Where was it? _Where was it?!_ The moonlight was bright enough that she found her parchment and quills easily on her trunk and it was easy to grab the sticker. As her hand closed over it, the hooting stopped. She went back to bed, holding it tightly. She laid down again and the soothing warmth of it, telling her that at that exact moment he was also touching his, accompanied her as she finally fell asleep.


	46. News

Chapter 46  
News  
  
Cassie woke up suddenly, her eyes opening onto darkness, and she was momentarily disoriented. She had no idea where she was. She wasn't at home and she wasn't at Hogwarts. It took a few seconds before she remembered. She was at the Burrow! At that moment, she felt a smile explode on her face. She stretched in the tangled sheet and then grimaced. She was very hot and sweaty. She got out of bed and walked over to the window. She could see her watch in the dim light coming through the glass and she squinted to bring the numbers into focus. It was very early. About the same time that Ginny had been getting her up all week so they could get down to the showers and get her hair dried and styled before the other girls woke up.   
  
The thought of Ginny doing her hair made her realize that she had no one to dry it for her this morning. She certainly could not ask George to dry her hair for her or curl it, and she doubted that Molly would be willing. Even if she was, the fact that she still felt quite ambivalent about Molly's feelings toward her as a Muggle would keep her from asking. She would have to just brush it and either let it dry naturally or braid it. Hmm. Unless she wanted her hair straight for the entire time she was here which she really didn't, she would have to round up something like curlers. Gag! She had not had curlers in her hair since she was about five years old. Well, there was no help for it. When one was living without electricity, the luxuries of curling irons and blow dryers were not an option.   
  
She left the window and headed to the bedroom door, grabbing her bathrobe as she went. She opened the door and started down the hall before the sound of running water penetrated her still-sleepy brain. Someone was in the shower. She considered her options. She could wait in the hall, but then someone, a wet steamy someone, would be walking by her in a few moments. She looked at the darkness of the bedroom, and, cursing herself silently for being such a wimp, she ran back inside and shut the door partway. This was certainly awkward. She was not looking her best at the moment anyway, and seeing one of the boys, either one of them really, would be bad. She paced for a few minutes before the water turned off and she waited for whomever was in there to emerge. Finally, she heard footsteps down the hall and then murmured voices. Great, now both of them were down here. And she hated to admit it, but she was getting fairly desperate to get into the bathroom herself. Someone walked by a minute later and then she heard the door shut and then, unbelievably, water started running again. She shut the door completely and went back to sit on the bed. It seemed like she waited at least 15 minutes before she dared open the door again. This time, no water was running and she darted down the hall into the bathroom. She shut the door, locked it and immediately peeled off her nightgown, almost gasping at the relief of having it off. She was really going to have to find a T-shirt or something to sleep in. Maybe Ginny would have something more lightweight than flannel in her drawers that she could borrow. Her shower was quick and after she was done, she towel-dried her hair and brushed through it quickly, then ran back to her room to get dressed.   
  
She wanted to get downstairs fairly quickly to help Molly. She was sure the older woman could use help getting breakfast on the table. She grabbed some clothes out of a drawer and threw them on. Her mum had made some good choices under pressure and had sent some of her favorite outfits. It was good to be back in her familiar things. The Hogwarts' uniforms had not been horrific, but they were certainly not exactly the height of fashion or comfort for that matter. She started down the steps, stopping with knots in her stomach as she had a deja-vu moment. She could hear George and Molly down in the kitchen once again, arguing about her.   
  
"Have you really thought about what you are doing? What sort of problems you could be causing?"   
  
"I don't think liking someone is a problem. And I don't understand why you are so convinced that it is!"   
  
"Mum! Let George be. We've got to get to the store. We're already late!"  
  
"If you're so anxious, you are perfectly capable of apparating there by yourself, Fred! You two are not permanently attached at the hip - and I would think you would be worried about him yourself, rather than nagging me!"   
  
"Worried? Why should I be worried? I like Cassie!"  
  
"So do I. She's a lovely girl. But . . . she's young, she's vulnerable, and . . ." Cassie couldn't take it anymore. She didn't know what Molly had against her, but she wasn't going to stand here on these steps listening anymore. She was going to go down and face them. She started down the steps again and by the time she stepped into the kitchen, George was standing there smiling up at her. They had obviously already eaten breakfast, so her idea of helping Molly was not going to happen. She forced a smile onto her face.   
  
"I was hoping I would see you before you left. Have a good day at the store."  
  
"You're up really early. Did you sleep well?"  
  
"Yes. Very well, thank you. And this is the time Ginny's been getting me up for classes." George raised his eyebrows, but then Fred said,  
  
"We have to go! As it is, we'll never get the store opened in time this morning."  
  
"All right. All right!" He hugged Cassie quickly and kissed her fast on the lips, and then with two small pops, they were gone. Cassie stood there for a minute, extremely nervous about turning around and facing Molly, but . . . it had to be done. She turned, the queasiness in her stomach amplifying. Molly was smiling kindly at her and Cassie felt a little better. She may not really like the fact that Cassie was a Muggle, but she wasn't going to be cruel to her or rude. She could at least count on that, she thought.   
  
"I was hoping I could help you with breakfast but I'm obviously too late."   
  
"Oh, no, dear. There really wasn't anything you could have done anyway. You should have had a bit of a lie-in."   
  
"Is there anything I can do now?"  
  
"No. Just sit down and eat. Do you like pancakes?" Cassie nodded and sat down, lifting a pancake onto her plate. She ate quickly while Molly started cleaning up. When she was finished, Molly directed her plate into the sink where the others had already washed themselves and were currently drying themselves. Cassie determinedly grabbed the small sponge off the edge of the sink and dunked it in the soapy water. "It's easier for me just to do that."  
  
"I'm sure it is. But I have to be doing something. Otherwise, I'll feel like I'm taking advantage of your hospitality." She wiped at the table with quick efficient strokes and pretended that she didn't hear the sigh from the sink behind her. There were a few crumbs and one sticky spot where some syrup had been spilled. She emptied her handful of crumbs into the rubbish bin under the sink (same place her mother kept it - funny) and rinsed her sponge in the water again. "Now. What else can I do?"   
  
"Well, I must run a few errands this morning, I'm afraid. I'm just going to finish tidying up in here and then I'll be off. I hope you don't mind if you have to entertain yourself for an hour or two."   
  
"Why don't you go ahead? I can finish." There really was almost nothing left to do, essentially just put the remaining pancakes away and drain the sink.   
  
Molly shook her head. "I'll take care of it. It won't . . ."  
  
"Go ahead. I can do it. Honestly." Molly looked questioningly at her and then shrugged.   
  
"Are you sure?" At Cassie's nod, Molly smiled. "Okay." Two minutes later, she was standing in the kitchen with her purse. "I've strengthened the wards for you while you're here alone. No one will be able to floo in and no one can apparate into the house. I'll just apparate outside the fence when I get back. I can't imagine there being any problem, but in a worst-case scenario, we have an emergency port-key set up for you. All you have to do is touch it. But be careful with it because I'm sure you don't want to go by accident." She indicated a rather ugly little knick-knack hidden on a shelf near the window.  
  
"Where does it take me?"   
  
"Headquarters, dear." Cassie waited for further explanations, but none were forthcoming. "Are you positive you will be all right?"   
  
"Yes. Positive. Don't worry about me." Molly looked worried, but she smiled.   
  
"I'll be home quite soon." And then she was gone with a small pop and Cassie was alone in the Burrow.   
  
At first, she finished cleaning the kitchen like she had promised Molly she would. She decided the remaining pancakes could stay on the plate they were on, but she really should cover them. Normally, she would use plastic wrap for such a job but a thorough search of the kitchen revealed no such thing. Or foil. She did find some brown butcher paper, but decided that probably wouldn't do. Finally, with no other options presenting themselves, she got another plate out of the cupboard and inverted it over the pancakes. That would at least keep them from getting stale. She put them into the fridge which was another eye-opening experience. There were things in that fridge that she did not recognize at all. And it wasn't just the brand, it was the items. She looked around a little bit out of curiosity but eventually closed the fridge. It was interesting, but since labeling laws on exclusively wizarding products obviously were way behind those for the products she and her mother bought, she didn't learn much.   
  
She drained the sink quite easily and then wiped it clean. When she was satisfied the kitchen looked as spotless as possible, she ran up the steps and spent a few minutes straightening her room and making her bed. Her mother would really be unhappy if she didn't do her best to help Molly while she was staying here. She would say "I've trained you better than that. Don't embarrass me." She left her dirty clothes in a neat pile at the end of the bed and hoped she remembered to ask Molly about what to do with them. There didn't seem to be a hamper in the room although she looked around carefully. After she was done with the bedroom, she straightened the bathroom and then wondered what to do with herself. She considered going into the twins' room to straighten it but decided against it. She descended the stairs again and walked into the living room.   
  
She looked around at a few of the pictures, smiling at the various family members who were smiling and waving up at her. She heard a noise outside and her eyes grew wide. Then the door opened, and Molly walked in. "Hello, Cassie, dear. How are you doing?"   
  
"I'm fine. I was just looking at some of your pictures. The kids were really cute when they were small."   
  
Molly smiled. "Yes. They really were. Every one of them. Of course, I'm a little prejudiced." Molly walked to the couch and sat down. Cassie thought she looked tired and worried. "Remus says hello, by the way."  
  
"You saw Remus?" Molly nodded.   
  
"He's always exhausted the day after the full moon. But he's doing all right."   
  
"Obviously, he hasn't been arrested, then."  
  
"Not yet. Albus has him hidden. I think he's safe for a while, at least." Molly leaned her head back and closed her eyes.  
  
"What's wrong, Molly?" There was a dry chuckle in response.   
  
"A better question would be what is right. Things are insane out there today." There was a knocking on the window and Cassie looked up to see an unfamiliar owl at the window. "Ah. The mail. It's a little late today but with the enhanced wards, it probably couldn't get through." She opened the window and the owl flew in, dropping a small bundle of letters and the morning newspaper into Molly's hands. She sat down and opened the newspaper, like she was looking for something. Her eyes skimmed quickly over the front page, her lips pursed in a way that Cassie had quickly learned meant she was upset. "Well, Moody was right. This is a mess."   
  
"Do you mind if I read the article?"  
  
"Not at all. But I don't know that it would interest you." Molly stood up and walked into the kitchen. "Thank you for finishing up earlier."  
  
"No problem," Cassie called back. "I couldn't find any plastic wrap or foil to cover the pancakes. So I just covered the plate with another one. Is that all right?" Molly stuck her head back through the door. "It's fine. Thank you." Cassie looked down at the paper and caught her breath.   
  
"Order of the Phoenix Members Allow Family to Die" read the headline. The article accused the Order of caring more about Muggle families than they did about fellow Wizards. There had been an attack, it explained, on Wednesday night of a pure-blood wizarding family named Bryce in a place called Ercall-Magna. All four of them had been killed and Order members had done nothing to help, despite repeated warnings that they might be attacked and the father's panicked plea for help. The Order members, the article explained, had been fighting that night, but protecting Muggle families instead of wizarding ones. "It is obvious," the author concluded, "that the Muggle-loving tendencies long suspected of the Order head and probably its members have surpassed everyone's worst fears. And in so doing, they allowed good wizards to die needlessly." Cassie's brow furrowed as she finished the article. Disregarding the obvious disdain for the Muggle families saved by the Order, she still didn't understand the article. This had to be the battle that Harry was fighting that night because he mentioned that George, Fred, Arthur, and others had been fighting with him. But she was sure that none of them had known about a wizarding family that needed help. Or at least, no one had mentioned it. She stood up and walked into the kitchen, wondering what Molly was doing.   
  
She found the older woman standing by the window staring outside, her hands twisting together. "Are you all right, Molly?"  
  
Her smile was faint. She was obviously greatly concerned but trying not to show Cassie. "Of course, Cassie. I'm fine. Are you hungry?"  
  
"No. Thank you."  
  
"Okay. How about a sandwich?" Cassie would have grinned if the situation weren't so serious. Molly wasn't listening to what she was saying at all. "I think I've still got chicken from yesterday."  
  
"That sounds good, thank you." A few moments later, Molly was assembling the sandwiches, her mind obviously far away from the kitchen as she first presented Cassie with a sandwich of nothing more than mustard between two slices of bread, having put all the chicken on her bread. When she realized what she had done, she flushed furiously and reassembled Cassie's sandwich.   
  
"Sorry about that." Cassie wanted to offer some comforting words, but honestly didn't know how she could. She glanced up at the family clock. George, Fred, and Arthur's hands were still on Work, if that was any comfort. They both ate in silence, Molly mechanically, and Cassie thought that she probably had not tasted the sandwich at all. Afterwards, Cassie managed to get Molly out of the kitchen and washed the few dishes herself in the sink. It was easy enough, really, although she did have a bit of trouble with the soap. It seemed reluctant to come out of its bottle without help from magic and it took Cassie a lot of effort to convince it that it had better. She went back into the living room and was surprised to see Molly sitting there, looking considerably more relaxed than she had the entire day. She had piles of yarn in front of her and knitting needles were clicking along at a good pace. Cassie did a double take because the needles were not being held by anything, they were just suspended in mid air.   
  
"You knit?" she asked, before thinking that was a rather stupid question.   
  
"Yes. Every year I make jumpers for everyone as part of their Christmas gifts. This one is Ron's. He does so love maroon, which I don't really understand as I think it looks horrid with his hair. But, he does love his jumper." Cassie nodded. She couldn't really tell it was a jumper yet as obviously Molly had just started on it. Er, well, the needles had just started on it.   
  
"That's very nice. It must take you quite a long time, though, to do seven jumpers."   
  
"I do start early, around Halloween most years. And yes, it does take a while. But I enjoy it very much. Usually the needles do most of the work themselves, so of course that makes it nice for me. I just have to make sure they start right and then I usually wind up doing the letter on the front myself as for some reason they never get them formed correctly."   
  
"Oh. I see. My grandmother knits. She tried to teach me once, but I don't think I was a very good student. My potholder was all warped on one side." Molly looked at her with an obvious question in her eyes.   
  
"Your grandmother is a witch, then?"   
  
"Uh, no. She knits, um, by herself. Holding the needles."   
  
Molly's brows furrowed in confusion. "Holding the needles? I had no idea . . . How would that . . . My. Interesting." She relaxed into her chair again, apparently deciding this issue was not worth pursuing. "Doing these little things for the children helps me focus, realize that life continues even when things are difficult. I hope you don't think I'm rude, but I really needed to do this right now."   
  
"No, of course not." Cassie sat down in one of the chairs in the room, wondering what she would do to occupy herself today and for the rest of the week for that matter. The house was clean and there was nothing more she could do in that department. "Molly, is there anything you need done that I could help you with? I am sure with Christmas coming there are presents to be wrapped or something."   
  
"Actually, Cassie, dear, I was wondering if you had all your Christmas gifts that you need for your family. Shopping might be difficult with your needing to be in hiding, but I do have some catalogs and if we order early, it shouldn't be a problem. Owls can usually deliver in just a day or two."   
  
"I don't have anyone's present except for my Mum's. I got that in Hogsmeade but I'm all out of ideas now." Molly directed her to a large stack of well-thumbed catalogs full of all kinds of wizarding items. Cassie spent the entire afternoon looking at all of them, writing down ideas for gifts for everyone and deciding how she was going to pay for them. She had foolishly forgotten to ask her Mum to send her more money with her clothes. She supposed that Arthur could drop by there this evening and get some for her, but of course it would have to be exchanged at the bank. But maybe George could do that tomorrow. So, thinking that some money would probably be available, she came up with an idea of how much she would need for the gifts she wanted. The room was dark and she was squinting at the pages before she closed the last one and folded up her list. It was a lot longer this year than in the past because she had a lot more people to buy for. She really had to get things for all of the Weasleys and, of course, Harry and Hermione and Remus. She didn't think she would need to send gifts to anyone from Hogwarts except for maybe Professor Dumbledore but she imagined that he probably had everything he ever wanted or needed. She would have to ask Harry about that.   
  
"The boys should be home fairly soon. I thought maybe some nice chops for dinner?"   
  
"Sounds lovely. Let me help."   
  
"There's really nothing you can do, Cassie. I'll take care of it." But despite Molly's words, Cassie accompanied her into the kitchen determined to do something. Watching Molly cook was very interesting. She lit the fire magically and put a fry pan on top, then directed the pork chops from the fridge into the pan, where they started sizzling. She waved her wand at the cutting board, which laid down on the counter and some knives flew out of a nearby drawer to rest on it. Vegetables flew out of the refrigerator and the pantry. Then she waved her wand again and the knives began to chop the vegetables by themselves for a salad. Molly pulled out some potatoes and was about to sic a knife on them as well when Cassie interrupted.   
  
"I can peel potatoes."   
  
"Yes, I know. But it's easier this way." She started the knife on the first potato.   
  
"Please. Let me help you. I really would be very happy to do the potatoes."   
  
"It'll be quicker if I just take care of it myself."   
  
"Yes. But I can still have it done in time for dinner." With obvious reluctance, Molly stopped the spell and the knife clattered to the counter top, followed immediately by the potato. Cassie did not even ask for something as mundane as a potato peeler. She just started with the knife, making fairly quick progress through the pile, peeling and chopping as Molly indicated she wanted. She glanced at the clock periodically and it was just luck that she happened to look up as George's hand swung from Work to Traveling and then Home a heartbeat before a pop announced his arrival.   
  
He looked five years older to Cassie than he had this morning. "Hi, Mum. Cassie." He hugged his mother quickly and then did the same to Cassie, kissing her quickly on the cheek. She could feel the exhaustion pouring off him in waves and he sat almost immediately down in a chair.   
  
"Why is Fred still at work?"  
  
"He's closing up. I was anxious to get home." He tried to give a cheeky grin to Cassie, but it failed and she was more concerned than she let show on her face. "I think I really need to talk to Dumbledore. The rumors and things flying around the Alley today were almost too insane to be believed, but I . . ."  
  
"Albus will be here after dinner. I spoke to him earlier today." Molly's lips pursed again and Cassie felt bad. The knitting had really relaxed her but now all the tension and worry she had shown this morning had come rushing back and were multiplied by George's obvious distress. Fred apparated into the kitchen then and he looked as exhausted as George, collapsing into a chair next to his twin.   
  
"Did this all have to happen right before Christmas? The store is insanely busy, which normally would make us very happy, but this year, it's almost too much. I think when the kids get back from school, I'm going to recruit Ron to come help out. One of us should be out with customers at all times to overhear what the gossip is, but that only leaves one of us to man the till and restock supply." Fred put his head down on the table like he was about to go to sleep and Cassie understood with his words what was going on. It wasn't just running the shop that had worn the two of them out. They were trying to do spying, too.   
  
"Dinner will be ready soon, boys. I don't suppose you've heard from your father?" Molly glanced up at the clock, but Arthur's hand was still firmly on Work. Both the twins shook their heads.   
  
"Didn't see anyone today. I think everyone's laying low. We did get one Auror into the store today, supposedly to buy some treats for his daughter, but I think he was keeping an eye on us." Fred groaned. "It might be a relief to be arrested. At least we'd be forced to sit still for a day or two."  
  
"Don't you dare say that, Fred!" Molly banged her fist on the counter. "Don't you ever, ever say that!"   
  
"Mum! Don't have kittens! I was just joking."   
  
"Well, I didn't think it was funny!"  
  
"Neither did I." Cassie spoke quietly as she finished putting the last of the potatoes into the water boiling on the stove. "Not funny at all."   
  
Fred grimaced. "Sorry. Help me out here, George." George, whose hands were covering his face as he rested against the table, just grunted. It was into this silence that Arthur apparated, blinking.   
  
"Molly. I'm afraid that all hell is breaking loose. And I honestly don't understand why."   
  
Cassie felt her stomach turn over. She hated to be selfish because obviously much more was at stake here than her comfort. But the thought of possibly all four Weasleys being arrested, which would leave her without a place to stay, concerned her greatly. Plus, she knew that whatever accusations were being leveled at them were completely false. Something else was going on, she could feel it, but she had no idea what it was. She and Molly served dinner a few minutes later and everyone ate, complimenting them on the food. But Cassie could tell that their hearts really weren't in it. She passed on the chop completely, instead eating just the salad. No one commented on that, which made her just as happy.   
  
The twins filled Arthur in on some of the things they had seen and heard in Diagon Alley today and Arthur briefly mentioned some of the happenings at the Ministry. "And of course they all suspect that I am in the Order. Everyone knows my relationship with Dumbledore. So far, veritaserum hasn't even been threatened, but it is certainly in the back of my mind. I didn't dare drink or eat anything today, Molly. I think from now on, I'll have you pack my lunch." Molly nodded, but Cassie thought that the lines of worry on her forehead looked even deeper now than ever. Molly insisted on doing all the cleanup herself and Cassie thought better of arguing with her about it. She was moving methodically through her usual tasks, and Cassie felt like interrupting her or changing her routine would be more cruel than helpful as it would force her to think. So, instead she sat next to George on the couch in the living room, her hand intertwined with his, Fred on the other side of him. Arthur read the paper, making outraged noises at the article Molly and Cassie had read earlier that day, and then turned further into it. That didn't cheer him up much either.   
  
Cassie got brave and asked the three of them if they had ignored the pleas from help from a wizarding family on Wednesday night. "Of course we didn't," Fred retorted. "That whole thing about us getting repeated warnings that they might be attacked and everything is complete . . . uh, is a complete lie. We only heard about the Muggle-born students' parents being attacked. I don't know where they came up with that pack of . . . uh, junk." George had shot him a warning glance and Cassie knew it was about watching his language. Arthur shook his head again at what he was reading in the paper.   
  
"I just don't understand what Nightscall hopes to accomplish with this vendetta against the Order. I mean, he's complaining that we let that family die and in the same breath says that our supposed crusade against You-Know-Who and the Deatheaters is all a front, that we are actually supporting them and that we need to leave catching them to the actual people who are trained." George and Fred nodded their agreement.   
  
"Yes. There is some piece of the puzzle missing, that is certain," a calm voice announced from the kitchen doorway and Cassie looked up to see Professor Dumbledore standing there, a faint smile on his face as he surveyed the living room. He walked in and sat down, Molly following immediately on his heels. He, too, like everyone else in the room, had deep lines of worry on his face. "Kingsley informs me that there has been a shakeup with the Aurors as well. Woodburn, the head of their department, has resigned and Sootspinner has taken over. He hasn't made any official announcement on change of policy yet, but he feels it is coming tomorrow. That could mean trouble. I am working on the assumption that the resignation was not voluntary." Arthur scowled.   
  
"When did this happen? I haven't heard a thing about it."  
  
"Just this afternoon, Kingsley said." He looked around at each of them, smiling faintly at Cassie as his gaze met hers for a moment before moving on. "Truthfully, my concern is not that the Ministry is against us. It was two years ago and I don't doubt that we could manage to continue functioning whether they are supporting us or not. However, that does not seem to be the actual problem. It seems to me, and correct me if I'm wrong, that they are trying to turn the entire wizarding population against the Order, hoping to somehow neutralize us. And in that, they may be successful." For a long moment, no one spoke. Then, finally, Arthur did.  
  
"I just can't believe that. It would take an organized concerted effort to do that. Yes, people are easily swayed by news coverage, but certainly their fear of Voldemort is greater than their love of either Fudge or Nightscall."   
  
"Dad, you never want to think the bad of anyone! Of course it would take a concerted effort. And it started on Saturday night. Dumbledore's right. We have been lulled into a false sense of security in the last two years. We are not nearly as secret as we were then. Many of our members are known now and if the general public wants to get rid of us, I would say we'd have a hard time staying hidden." George's fingers tightened on Cassie's hand as he made this speech, and Cassie tried not to gasp at the pain shooting down her arm. He relaxed his hold when he was done, much to her relief. Dumbledore nodded.   
  
"Yes, I think . . ." He never finished his sentence, though, because at that moment, there was a loud yell from the kitchen and Molly ran in to see what was wrong. She stuck her head through the doorway a minute later.   
  
"Tonks is in the fire, Albus. She wants to talk to you. She has news."


	47. LateNight Conversations

Chapter 47  
Late-Night Conversations  
  
Molly, Arthur, and Professor Dumbledore all hurried into the kitchen. Fred followed them in with a confident stride. George stood up to do the same, then realized Cassie would be sitting alone and sat back down, looking longingly at the door Fred passed through a minute later. "You can go. I don't mind." George looked at her with hope in his eyes. "I'm serious. Go."  
  
"I shouldn't leave you here by yourself." But on her encouraging nod, he walked toward the door. However, he was not even halfway there when the door opened and Fred emerged, looking disgusted.   
  
"They said I wasn't invited. But I don't remember either of them being invited either - well, except for Dumbledore." He scowled deeply and sat down in the chair he had vacated only moments before. George returned to sit down by Cassie again and linked their hands back together. Fred looked at the two of them and grinned. "Don't you two look cozy?" It was George's turn to scowl now.   
  
"I am. I think Cassie is, too. So shut it."   
  
"All right. Don't have a fit. I'm not Mum. I don't mind how much you cuddle. It's sort of cute." George scowled again.   
  
"Remind me to give you a bad time next time you're out with Angelina." Fred took this with good grace.   
  
"Okay. However, I should warn you that I don't hang around on the living room couch. We prefer a little privacy." George opened his mouth to respond when the kitchen door opened and all three adults emerged. Cassie tried hard to read their faces, but the worry lines that had been present when they entered the kitchen were still there and it didn't really look like new ones had joined them. "So, what's the news?" Fred stood up as his mother and father approached the three of them.   
  
"The new head of the Aurors, that Singent Sootspinner, showed up at the Prime Minister's office today, accompanied by that nasty Richard Blackman. Tonks tried to listen in on the conversation, but couldn't hear anything. She says that Blackman has showed up several times in the last few days and she is pretty sure that something is up. She doesn't know what, though." Cassie felt her heart sink.   
  
"What's going on in my dad's office?"   
  
"We're not sure. She can tell that something is going on. She says your father does not seem to be directly involved, although any time Blackman is involved, it's always a possibility."   
  
"Tonks is the one who took the place of the PM's secretary, right?"   
"Yes, that's right." Professor Dumbledore took his cloak off the hook by the door. "I must get back to the school. I have things that I need to do."   
  
"But, what about the Prime Minister?"   
  
"I'm going to see what else your dad knows, Cassie. I'm on my way there, right now." Arthur kissed Molly quickly and went to get his cloak off the hook as well.   
  
Cassie looked between the two wizards in a bit of a panic. She had important questions to ask both of them but they were both obviously ready to leave immediately. "Wait!" Both of them looked at her, a little surprised at her outcry. "I need to ask you both questions. Can you wait a minute, Professor?"   
  
"Certainly. A few moments will make no difference."   
  
"Thank you. Can I have some parchment and a quill? I need to write a note home." Fred handed her a sheet of parchment that had some sort of scribbling on one side and George dug his tiny self-inking quill out of his pocket. Cassie hurriedly composed a note to her father asking him to send some money and the amount she had decided she would need. She rolled the parchment quickly, hoping the ink wouldn't smear, and handed it to Arthur, who disapparated immediately, her note clutched in his hand.   
  
"How can I help you, Miss Robinson?"   
  
"It's stupid, but I'm wondering how to get my hair back to blonde? I didn't mind but it doesn't matter anymore if I have red hair does it?"   
  
Dumbledore thought for a moment. "No, I suppose it doesn't. It's a simple potion you can wash through your hair. A color-removal potion should do the trick. One of the family should be able to brew it up within just a few days. Is that all you needed?" Cassie nodded but she felt a little discouraged. A few days seemed like a long time and that was assuming someone could make the right potion and was willing to do so.   
  
"Yes, sir. Thank you."   
  
"All right. Molly, it has been good to see you again. Thank you for everything." And then he was gone. Cassie was surprised because she hadn't even heard a pop as he left. Molly sighed deeply and then turned to the three younger people in the room.   
  
"Who would like some cocoa? I don't think your father will be terribly long and I plan on waiting for him."   
  
"Sure." George and Fred both nodded.   
  
"Do you need some help, Molly?"   
"No. Cocoa's easy. Thank you, though." She disappeared once again into the kitchen and the three of them sat quietly for a second before Cassie asked a question she had been wondering about for the past 30 minutes or so.   
  
"George? When your mum said Tonks was in the fire, what did that mean?"   
  
"Her head was in the fire - she was fire-calling."   
  
"Oh. I would have liked to see that." Cassie wanted to stand up and pace, worrying about her father and what was going on with him, but George's hand was still linked to hers and she felt awkward pulling away from him. She tried hard to relax and let her head lean against his shoulder. He gently disentangled his fingers, and slipped his arm around her back. "Do you think my dad is okay?"   
  
"Of course he is. I'm sure my dad just wants to find out what he knows about what is going on with Blackman." He kissed her gently on her forehead.   
  
"You can do better than that!" Fred chortled. "I've seen the two of you. Come on, kiss her properly." Cassie flushed at his teasing.   
  
"Leave your brother alone, Fred." Molly came in carrying a tray and they all took a mug of hot cocoa. They sipped slowly, talking in low tones for a few minutes. Cassie had finished hers and was leaning against George again, enjoying the feel of his shoulder under her cheek. He was talking to Fred about things and people that she didn't know or understand and she didn't try to follow the conversation. The low rumble of his voice as he spoke helped her feel calmer. Everyone jumped a few minutes later as the familiar pop sounded in the kitchen. Arthur emerged a second later.   
  
"Hi, everyone." He handed Cassie an envelope and she slipped it quickly into her pocket as he went to kiss Molly hello. George looked at her questioningly.   
  
"What is that?"   
  
"Money."  
  
"What?"   
  
"Money. I needed money for Christmas presents."   
  
"You got money from your parents?" But Cassie never answered because Arthur cleared his throat.   
  
"I just wanted everyone to know what is going on with Andrew." He went on to explain that Andrew was aware of Blackman's visits to the Prime Minister and he had also been visited by Sootspinner on a few occasions. "He says that things are very normal, almost too normal were his exact words, but that he is getting concerned about the Prime Minister. He says that he has been talking a great deal lately in meetings about a terrorist threat from Libya, which isn't usually one of his pet concerns. Andrew wondered if this threat was real and checked with someone in another office. This person, whose name I cannot remember, said that there has been no credible threat from Libya in months. So, that's really all that he's worried about. He's going to keep an eye on the Prime Minister and see if anything else changes." Everyone looked at Cassie like they expected her to make some profound comment but she just shrugged.   
  
"I don't know anything about terrorism, well, beyond what I read in the paper. Sorry." After a few minutes, she stood up. "I think I'll head up to bed. If I don't, I'm going to go to sleep right here." George stood and for a minute Cassie thought he might follow her up to kiss her goodnight, but everyone's eyes were on the two of them, so instead he just kissed her on the cheek.   
  
"Goodnight, Cassie." There was a small chorus of goodnights and she climbed the stairs to Ginny's bedroom. She lit the lamps and changed out of her clothes, placing the envelope Arthur had brought for her on the dresser before digging her pyjamas out of her trunk. She hated to put on her hot nightgown, but did so anyway, not daring to sleep without pyjamas. Things happened too fast in this house to risk it. People popped in and out of rooms and locked doors didn't keep them out. She wrapped her robe around herself and hurried to brush her teeth. She thought George may come up and visit with her, but she made it to the restroom and back without seeing anyone else. She extinguished the lamp and laid in bed, willing herself to go to sleep. She closed her eyes, but she kept seeing movement behind her eyes, imagined scenes of Tonks as she had to let Blackman and that Sootspinner bloke into the PM's office. She pictured her father and mother talking tonight about her and wondering if she was all right. She pictured Ginny laying in her bed at Hogwarts, dreaming of Harry. She opened her eyes and tried rearranging herself on the pillows. She sat up, and fluffed her pillow before laying back down. After 20 minutes or so, though, she realized that she was getting nowhere. Sleep was not going to come if she didn't do something differently. She peeled off her flannel nightgown and walked over to Ginny's dresser. She remembered seeing some T-shirts in here the night before. She admitted to herself that she had been stupid not to ask her mum to send a cooler nightgown. It was really warm here at night.   
  
She opened a drawer or two, finding a large T-shirt that looked like it would be able to do double duty as pyjamas and slipped it over her head. She immediately felt better as the cool cotton settled around her knees. What a relief. She relit the lamp near the bed and walked over to her trunk. She had thrown a few books into her trunk at the last minute before she had left home and one of those might be able to help her relax. And, of course, if that didn't work, one of her Hogwarts' textbooks would put her to sleep pretty quickly. As she opened the trunk, she pulled it slightly away from the wall so that the small circle of light cast by the lamp could reach into its dark interior. As she did, she jumped in surprise. George's voice was clear and loud in the room and she looked around in amazement that he had apparated in here without making a sound. But then she heard Molly's voice responding to his and she realized that it wasn't in the room at all, but coming through . . . the floorboards. She looked closely at the wall where her trunk had been only moments before and saw, although it was difficult in the dim light, a fairly large crack between the wall and one floorboard. Apparently, George and Molly were having a discussion down below, presumably in Molly and Arthur's room as she doubted Molly would take George into Percy's or Charlie's room for a serious talk. She considered pushing the trunk back against the wall to block out the sound, but then she heard her name and she realized they were talking about her. She was undecided for a minute, one part of her feeling guilty for eavesdropping and the other part feeling undeniably curious about what was being said. Also, in the back of her mind, she wondered if Ginny knew about this. She sat up and closed the lid of the trunk, then sat down on it so she could hear them clearly. She almost held her breath, but decided that there was almost certainly no way they could hear her as long as she was quiet.   
  
"Do we really have to go over this again? I'm getting really tired of having this argument with you, Mum."  
  
"I'm not arguing with you. I'm telling you that this relationship with her is not going anywhere."  
  
"You have got to be kidding me! Now you're telling me who I can and cannot date!"  
  
"Date? I don't see any dating. You and Cassie are simply glued together!"  
  
"That's not fair, Mum! We are not 'glued together.' I went to work today while she stayed here with you! I can't very well take her out to dinner and things. It's too dangerous! But we are getting to know each other better, and that's dating - whether it happens here in the house or at the store or whatever. I just don't understand -"  
  
"Think about it before you start getting all angry with me! The girl is a Muggle!"  
  
"Really! I didn't know that! You've shocked me!"  
  
"All right! Sarcasm isn't helping the situation, George. The girl is a Muggle. It's not that I blame her for that. I mean she can't really help that, can she? But -"  
  
"Honestly! I cannot believe this. You hate her because she's a Muggle? I'm starting to wonder-"  
  
"I do not hate her! Stop saying that! It's not true. She's a wonderful girl, very kind and sweet. It's just that-"  
  
"That what?!"  
  
"Stop interrupting me! It's just that, George, you are a pureblood wizard. That gives you certain . . . well, I'll just say it. It gives you certain powers that could easily be used to take advantage of her and she has no way to stop you from doing it."  
  
"So, let me get this straight. You think I'm going to somehow play mind control games with her and take advantage of her and she, powerless weak Muggle that she is, won't notice and will just fall in love with me because I force her to?"  
  
"I'm not talking about love. You can't force someone to love. You can force someone to do things they otherwise would not do!"  
  
"Mum! Think about what you are saying! What is the point of doing that? I like her. I want her to like me back -"  
  
"That's what I mean! Why are you doing this? Can't you just find some nice witch to date and marry? Settle down and have a nice, normal family!"  
  
"There you go again! I have no immediate plans to marry her, Mum!"  
  
"No . . . I know, but you boys and Ginny seem to be in the habit of giving your heart to one person and never being able to look elsewhere."  
  
"What are you talking about, mother?"   
  
"Look at Bill. He never really dated anyone seriously until he met Fleur. True, it's taken them two years, but now they're getting married! Look at Percy!"  
  
"Do I have to?"  
  
"Shut up about your brother - can't you . . . don't sidetrack me into this old argument. I'm telling you that he and Penelope are almost certain to get married and she's the only one he's dated since his sixth year in Hogwarts."  
  
"That's because he's a git and no one else will -"  
  
"George! And Fred with Angelina, and Ron, and Ginny . . .When you fall, you fall hard! I'm just telling you to be careful."  
  
"Mum, I -"  
  
"You marry who you date, George. That's a fact of life. And I really don't think marrying that Muggle girl is in your best interests!"  
  
"You mean not in your best interests! What, are you going to be embarrassed admitting to your friends that your son married a dirty, stinking -"  
  
"Don't say it, George! You know I don't feel that way! About any Muggles, and especially not about Cassie."  
  
"Well, you couldn't prove it by me and this conversation!"   
  
"This is ridiculous! You are not listening to logic! Think about it! The girl is young-"  
  
"She has a name! Would you please stop calling her 'the girl!'"  
  
"Fine! As I was saying - think about it. Cassie is very young and vulnerable. She comes into our world where she knows absolutely nothing and an older, powerful wizard seduces her when she has no other options available to her! Is it going to last? Is she ever going to go home again? What's she supposed to do? Give up all her family connections, never see her parents again?"  
  
"Mum! Wizards and Muggles have been known to marry in the past!"  
  
"Yes they have . . . and I can only think of a couple of instances where it has worked out for the couple! And that's not even mentioning children!"  
  
"Look, Mum. I'm knackered. I do not want to go over this with you right now! Fred and I have another busy day in the store tomorrow and I just cannot deal with -"  
  
"Then just stop . . ."  
  
"What? What do you want me to stop doing? Holding her hand, kissing her?"  
  
"Since you asked, Yes!"  
  
"Well, I'm not going to do it. So forget it!"   
  
"George, I'm trying to think about what's best for you . . . what's best for her! Please, don't be angry with me and take this all wrong!"  
  
"There's nothing to take wrong, is there? Honestly, I feel sick. She already thinks you hate her!"  
  
"I do not hate her!"  
  
"And then tomorrow, when you two are here alone, what are you going to do, stupefy her and stick her in a corner?"  
  
"George!"  
  
"Well, you act like that would be easier for you! She's been trying to help you! I've seen her offer and I've seen you turn her down! Are you afraid she's going to damage something?"  
  
"Of course not! I'm afraid she'll hurt herself, that's all. She has no idea how to function in our world!"  
  
"Our world! Our world! Stop saying that! She has somehow managed to function in her world for 16 years! And she obviously is not stupid. She posed as a witch at Hogwarts for more than a week!"  
  
"I never said she was stup -"  
  
"No you didn't. You implied it, though! As a poor, pitiful Muggle, she is incapable of dealing with the complexities of the wizarding world! That's what you're basically saying!"  
  
"I'm just saying that Muggles, well, you know how they are."  
  
"Oh, Merlin! Are you sure you're not Lucius Malfoy in drag?"  
  
"George!"  
  
"I'm serious. I am so completely serious! I'm going to bed! I am not going to listen to one more minute of this conversation! And I never want you to bring it up again!"  
  
"Molly! Molly! What's wrong? I can hear shouting!" Cassie heard the door to the room open.   
  
"Nothing, Arthur." Molly's voice sounded exhausted.   
  
"I heard shouting all of a sudden."  
  
"I removed the silencing charm on the door because I was just getting ready to leave the room! Dad, I . . . You like Cassie, don't you?"  
  
"Of course I do. What were you two arguing about?"   
  
"Cassie! Apparently, my own mother, who I for years foolishly thought cared about my happiness more than stupid prejudices --"  
  
"I am not prejudiced! I'm just facing reality, which you seem loathe to do!"  
  
The door slammed. There were soft voices she could not hear well enough to make out what was being said and then the door shut again and there was no more noise coming through the crack. Cassie sat for a long time on her trunk, staring at the wall. She wasn't sure what to think or what to do. She had accepted from almost the very beginning of knowing George that there was never going to be any future in their relationship. And her time at Hogwarts had confirmed it even more definitely in her mind. He was, no matter what else, a pureblood wizard in a family of pureblood wizards that went back more generations than anyone could remember. And she, no matter what else, was a Muggle. So, she had offered him her heart, reluctantly and with definite reservations, knowing that one day in the not too distant future, he would hand it back to her in pieces. She had expected that day to come at Hogsmeade. It hadn't. And maybe now that they were together here at the Burrow it would be put off even longer. Maybe they would have two or even three weeks. But the inevitable day would come when she would go home and he would stay. And much as it pained her to admit it, Molly was right. They really could not be together.   
  
She stood up off her trunk and walked back to the bed. She would have to tell him that. But not today. Right now, she intended to enjoy their time together. She would savor every moment and when the day came that they couldn't be together anymore, she could cry over each memory and spend the rest of her life remembering him. She laid down, pulling the covers up to her neck and staring up at the ceiling. She looked around the room in the lamp light and then reached over to extinguish the flame.   
  
She heard the footsteps going up the stairs. They paused for a long moment at her landing and she considered opening the door and going out to talk to him. But she knew that if she did, she would break into tears and then he would ask what was wrong and she would have to admit that she had heard the entire argument and it would be a big mess. She would see him in the morning. By then, she certainly would have calmed down enough that she could plaster on a smile.   
  
It was over an hour later that Cassie finally admitted defeat. She was never going to get to sleep tonight. Her sticker had never hooted. She had considered touching it on her end, but didn't. Now she was positive he was asleep. She wasn't as hot anymore, but her eyes were sticky because despite everything her brain was saying, they insisted on crying. She felt like standing up and screaming, but didn't think that would be a good idea. A bath! That's what she needed! Another wonderful bubble bath like she had taken last night. If that didn't put her to sleep, nothing would. She got up and grabbed her bathrobe. The house was completely dark and she was halfway down the hall before she realized that the bathroom would be dark, too. She worried her lip with her teeth for a moment before darting back into her room and grabbing the box of matches. She lit the lamps in the bathroom with trembling hands. When two of the lamps were lit, she started the water and added a generous amount of Ginny's bubble bath.   
  
Thirty minutes later, she sighed contentedly as she pulled the T-shirt/pyjamas over her head. The bath had been just the ticket. She was ready for bed now. She stretched. Just a quick brushing of her teeth and comb through her hair and she would be set. She glanced down at the counter and remembered that she hadn't brought her toiletry bag. Darn! Well, a quick run down the hall to the bedroom and she could be back here in just a second. She opened the door and it was all she could do not to scream as she ran smack into a warm body. A warm, male body, whose arms curved around her, calming her instantly.   
  
"George! You scared me! What are you doing here? Did you need to use the . . . . uh, bathroom?"  
  
"I heard water running and I was worried about you. I thought you were asleep hours ago. Are you all right?"  
  
"I'm fine. I just couldn't sleep. I thought a warm bath would help."   
  
"And you used Ginny's bubbles again?"  
  
Cassie swallowed nervously. "Do you think she'll be angry with me? I think I better buy her a new bottle."   
  
"She won't be angry." He sniffed appreciably at her. "You smell like Vanilla."   
  
"Yeah. That's what she likes, apparently."   
  
"Don't go to bed yet, stay up and talk to me."   
  
"Okay. I was just going to go down and grab my bag. I want to brush my teeth. And I thought that I would braid my hair tonight."   
  
"All right. Hurry up!" She laughed as she made her way down the hall. She grabbed the toiletry bag and hurried back to the bathroom. George wasn't in sight and she entered the bathroom a little hesitantly. Had he changed his mind and gone back upstairs? No. He was sitting on the edge of the tub, waiting for her. She smiled at him and laid her bag on the counter. She started brushing her hair, deciding that she was not going to brush her teeth in front of him. That would be a little strange. He watched her and occasionally their eyes met through the mirror. Neither of them said anything for a little while. Finally he spoke.  
  
"I'm going to make that potion to get the color out of your hair. I think I can have it done in just a day or so."  
  
"All right. Thank you."  
  
"I'll test it and everything before I actually have you wash your hair in it."  
  
She laughed. "I would appreciate that." He watched her again in silence. She glanced down to pick up an elastic for the end of one of the braids and when she looked back up at him, he was standing right next to her, studying the contents of her bag.   
  
"Is this the shampoo you use?"  
  
"Normally, yeah." He picked it up and opened the lid.   
  
"I remember - this is the scent I remember from when you would come to the store." He met her eyes in the mirror again. "That seems like years ago." She nodded shyly and watched as he replaced the lid and put the bottle back in her bag. He waited patiently for her to finish her hair and then his arms slipped around her waist. "I love having you here at the Burrow. I wish we could spend more time together."   
  
"I know what you mean. Um, do you mind waiting out in the hall? I want to brush my teeth again, but, uh, that's not the most . . ." He winked and exited. She shut the door and hurried through the job. For some reason, probably a conditioned response, the mint flavor of the toothpaste made her more ready for sleep. She opened the door and stepped out. George took her hand and they stood together in the hall for a minute. She sighed softly. "I miss you during the day when you're at work."  
  
"I know. I wish . . . well, it's busy right now, so I don't have the option of-"  
  
"Of course you don't. That's fine. You don't need to babysit me. I just wanted you to know how I feel." He pulled her close to him and she leaned against him happily, feeling the smooth silk of his bathrobe under her cheek. What was it about this position that made her so relaxed? She just felt completely secure and protected when he was holding her this way.   
  
"Cassie?"  
  
"Hmmmm?"  
  
"Are you wearing a nightgown? It doesn't feel like it."  
  
"George!" She blushed bright red and stepped back from him. "Of course I am. It's just one of Ginny's T-shirts instead of the usual stifling flannel I was wearing before. I was an idiot to not ask my mum to send me lighter pyjamas. This house is sweltering."   
  
"Yeah. Mum likes it warm. Drives the rest of us nuts, but we're used to it." He looked down at her considering and then he grinned. "I have something you could sleep in." She grinned back.  
  
"You do?"  
  
"Yes. Sleep in one of my shirts, please!"   
  
"Would it be comfortable?"  
  
"Very. And you could dream of me all night." She laughed.   
  
"I already do that. Even without your shirt." He bent and kissed her and she kissed him back enthusiastically, pressing against him tightly, uncaring that he could apparently tell what she was or was not wearing under her bathrobe. Her arms slipped up around his neck and she gasped quietly when he turned them so that her back was to the wall and his weight settled against her. He felt so good. He left her mouth and started trailing soft kisses over her neck and face and she closed her eyes and let him kiss her. After a moment, though, it wasn't enough and she started kissing him back, her mouth landing on his cheek and hair.   
  
"Cassie." His kisses continued, coming back to her mouth periodically. His hands had remained on her waist but now they started moving, carefully stroking her arm and then holding her head in place as he kissed her some more. She loved it, moaning softly as he bit her earlobe gently. "You feel so good."   
  
"So do you." His hands found the tie on her bathrobe and started loosening it, one hand slipping inside to settle at her waist. Somehow, that movement made her realize what was happening, and she opened her eyes. He was still kissing her gently but she knew this had to stop. For one thing, she suddenly realized, they were breaking at least two of her mum's stupid rules. It was way after 10:30 and if this was a goodnight kiss, it was certainly not short. "George?"  
  
"Hmmm?" he mumbled, as his lips found a particularly sensitive spot on her neck.  
  
"We have to stop now." He drew back, his eyes dark and huge in the half light of the hall.  
  
He looked down at her. "Are you sure?"  
  
"Pretty sure."   
  
"You didn't like it?" He was teasing her, now, she could tell. "Because I think that with a little practice I could get better." She smiled softly in response.   
  
"You don't need any practice You're doing just fine." She belted her bathrobe tightly around her again and flashed him what she hoped was a saucy grin. "Definitely doing just fine. If you were doing any better, I'd faint." And she walked away from him down the hall, turning right before she slipped back into Ginny's room. "And I'd hate for that to happen. You'd have to carry me into bed." He stepped toward her but she shut the door firmly, only to open it a second later to see him standing there looking slightly shell-shocked. "Don't forget to bring me your shirt for tomorrow, okay?" He nodded faintly and she shut the door again, laughing softly as she made her way over to the bed. She was not normally a tease, but it was fun to give him a taste of his own medicine.   
  
Five minutes later, she was sound asleep.


	48. Of Extension Cords and Other Muggle Item...

Chapter 48  
Of Extension Cords and Other Muggle Items  
  
Cassie woke up in the morning surprised at how light it was, glanced at her watched, and scrambled out of bed. She needed to see George this morning before he left for the store and she may already be too late. She ripped open her door to listen for the rumble of male voices and hearing them rising from downstairs she took a deep breath. She still had to hurry, though, they could leave at any moment. She stepped back into the room and her foot stepped on something soft. She glanced and smiled broadly. She picked up George's folded shirt and carried it back into Ginny's room. She unfolded it and held it up in front of herself. Yeah. This would be wonderful. A small note fluttered to the floor and she picked it up, wondering why he had written her a note instead of just talking to her.   
  
"Dear Cassie, here is the shirt I wore on Saturday. I hope you don't mind, but I particularly wanted you to wear this one. I'd ask you to model it for me this evening when you put it on, but I doubt your mum or mine would approve. So, I'll just have to use my imagination. Love, George."   
  
Cassie flushed as she read the last line. He could say the most outrageous things to her in his letters. He usually wasn't that bold in person, although he was certainly no shrinking violet or anything. Of course, maybe this explained why he had written the note. She put the shirt aside and grabbed some clothes, hurriedly changing into them but leaving her feet bare. She raced to the bathroom, quickly brushed her teeth, and then raced back to the bedroom. She grabbed the envelope her dad had sent with the money and ran down the stairs. All three Weasley males looked up at her as she descended and she adopted a more sedate pace almost immediately. All three of them were still eating so it was doubtful any of them would be popping out immediately. Although everyone was sitting calmly around the table, Cassie could tell there was some tension in the room, presumably because once again they were going out into the public, where they could be arrested at any time.   
  
"Ah, Cassie, dear. How about some breakfast?" She nodded at Molly and another plate joined those already on the table. Breakfast this morning seemed to consist of a muffin as well as eggs and ham. She sat down next to Arthur, smiling as they all looked at her.   
  
"Good morning. I was afraid you had all left."   
  
"I'm leaving in a second." Arthur pushed his chair back from the table. "I don't know what will happen at work today, Molly. I'll try to let you know." Molly had a worried look on her face as she kissed her husband briefly.   
  
"Thank you." She turned to her sons, who Cassie thought looked more solemn than she had ever seen them. "And you two do the same. Please."   
  
Both boys nodded, Fred running his fingers through his hair. "We've got an escape route planned but . . . well, we don't have too many options of places to hide."   
  
"Go to headquarters if you must. But if you do, please send word."   
  
Cassie had been thinking the eggs and ham sounded good this morning, but her stomach suddenly rebelled at the thought of any food at all. "George, can I talk to you before you go?"  
  
"Sure. Let's go in the other room." Once they were in the living room, Cassie smiled briefly.   
  
"My dad sent me money."  
  
"That's what you said last night. I was kind of wondering why, because it won't do you any good."  
  
"Well, I was hoping you would exchange it for me - into Galleons. I need to buy some Christmas presents and your mum showed me some catalogs and things, but I need wizard money."   
  
"I'll try. I'm not promising anything. Exchanging Muggle money can sometimes be problematic." Cassie looked at him with wide eyes.   
  
"Do you think they would be likely to arrest you or anything?"   
  
"No. If I have any problems exchanging the money, I'll just give you the amount you need."  
  
"No, George. I don't want your money. I'll figure out something else if I need to." She took some money out of the envelope and handed the rest to him. He opened up the envelope and looked inside.   
  
"This is so strange. Dad tried to explain to me how this paper is actually worth something, but I don't understand it."  
  
"I'll explain it to you sometime. Maybe your dad didn't do a good job." They both smiled, acknowledging the fact that though Arthur prided himself on his thorough understanding of all things Muggle, as often as not, he didn't really get it.   
  
"What really gets me is why the different colors are worth different amounts - he said it had something to do with the ink being more expensive but that didn't make sense to me." Cassie tried really hard to keep a straight face but the puzzled expression that George was giving the 20£ and 100£ notes he had taken out of her envelope just made her laugh. He scowled briefly and then laughed along with her.   
  
"How much is all this worth - in real money, I mean?"  
  
She laughed again. "I think the exchange is between 4-5 Pounds to the Galleon, so really not all that much." She had worried that her dad may not be willing to give her all the money she had asked for, but he had actually been more then generous. Probably to help ease the sting of her not being there for Christmas this year. And she wouldn't have been surprised if her mum had forced him to give her more as well. But, considering that all that money would not really translate into that many Galleons and how expensive things generally were, she hoped she could make it stretch. She had some gifts in mind that were definitely Muggle and she hoped she had kept enough actual money to purchase those. George may call the Galleons and sickles that he was used to spending "real," but to her, they seemed more like play money that would come in a game - it was hard for her to think of them as real currency.   
  
George stuffed the envelope into the pocket of his robes. "Well, I'll do the best I can. By the way, if you need anything from our shop, I'll get it for you."   
  
"Okay, a discount would be nice. I'll probably wind up getting my brothers more of those wet-heat firework things. Matthew loved them."  
  
"It's not wet-heat, it's wet-start, no-heat. Wet-heat makes no sense." It was her turn to scowl.   
  
"Well, sorry. I wasn't trying to insult your merchandise." He laughed.   
  
"All right, I'll bring you home a package or two. Is that enough?" He hugged her, lifting her face for his kiss.   
  
"Actually, could you make it four? I think it's going to be my main gift to both of them. Along with those huge lollipops I got them at Honeyduke's."   
  
"Sure. I guess I better go. Fred will be anxious."   
  
"All right."   
  
"You going to be okay?"  
  
"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" George looked like he was going to answer, but Fred burst into the living room looking rather harried.   
  
"Come on! Stop snogging her and let's go!"  
  
"We weren't snogging," George retorted but followed his brother back into the kitchen with an apologetic glance over his shoulder. A second later she heard the two distinctive pops and Cassie knew they had left. She sighed to herself and walked into the kitchen, where Molly was sitting at the table, eating a muffin, but Cassie thought that she didn't look like she was enjoying it very much. She sat down at her plate again and concentrated on eating the food she had previously taken. Now that George was gone, Cassie felt slightly uncomfortable with just Molly. She could not, of course, let her know about overhearing her "discussion" with George the night before, but she couldn't forget about it either. Molly did not like her "liking" George and Cassie felt as though she had to prove her "worthiness" to even stay in the house, although if she were to ever mention that idea to George, he would tell her she was being ridiculous. She stared at her plate as she ate her eggs. Finally, when the food was gone and neither of them had said anything to the other, she spoke.  
  
"That was very good, Molly. Thank you. I still feel bad I haven't helped with breakfast, though. You must get up very early to do it all yourself."   
  
"There really is nothing you . . ." Molly stopped and smiled. "Actually, I do get up fairly early, around 6. But I'm used to it so it doesn't bother me. And you have been very helpful with the other meals and cleaning up, so there's no reason to feel badly." Cassie smiled in response to what was an obvious effort by the older woman to accept her offers of help.   
  
"My mother always had me help her in the kitchen, so I'm used to it. Of course, cooking at your house is a little different." They both chuckled a little as they stood. They worked in easy companionship as they cleaned the dishes and tidied the kitchen and although Cassie knew this was only a beginning rather than an indication of the end to Molly's wariness around her, she still enjoyed herself. It was very much like being back at home with her mum.   
  
"So, Cassie, what did you want to do today?"   
  
"If you don't have any major plans, I really need to go shopping."   
  
There was a long silence. "Shopping?" Molly twisted her hands together, indicating that she was unsure what to do next. "But . . . I don't know how I would take you to the Alley and I really don't think it's safe for you there. I thought you had found enough in those catalogs."  
  
"The catalogs were very helpful in picking out Christmas gifts, but I don't need that kind of shopping. I just need a few items from Boots."   
  
"Boots? I . . . well, I think Ginny has left a pair here that you could use. If they're too small, I can enlarge them a little. I'd hate for you to spend a lot . . ." She looked completely bewildered and Cassie realized that she had not explained very well.   
  
"I'm sorry, Molly. I just meant the store Boots. It's just a drug store chain, uh, it sells little items that are helpful around the house. There's a lot of them around." Molly's confusion lessened slightly. "I thought maybe we could go to the village. There is one nearby, isn't there?"   
  
"Well, yes. But I never go there. I'm not sure if they would have a Boots store like that. And how would we get there?"  
  
"I'm sure they would have something that has the items I need. And I thought maybe we could walk. Is it terribly far?"   
  
"I don't actually know. I've never walked there, obviously. I guess we could always try. If we get worn out before we arrive, we can always turn around. If you need to shop, well, that's what we'll do." Cassie glanced at her watch. It was after 8 now but there was no guarantee anything would be open for another hour or so. She didn't want to take Molly all the way into the Muggle village only to be standing around waiting for the stores to open. That would be embarrassing. And possibly dangerous.   
  
"That sounds good. Thank you. I would go myself, but . . ."  
  
"No. Absolutely not. Albus would have my head and rightly so. I'm nervous enough about taking you outside the wards, but if we go quickly, I think we'll be okay."   
  
"All right. I'll go upstairs and finish getting ready." She glanced down at her bare feet and so did Molly. Cassie explained that she had hurried downstairs this morning so she wouldn't miss George and Fred.   
  
"Of course, dear. I understand." She appeared to think for a moment and then asked Cassie another question. "Arthur loves things like plugs and cords and batteries. Do you think they would sell those sorts of things?"   
  
"It would depend what sort of shop we find, but if it's a Boots, they would."   
  
"I'll look around, then. That would be a nice surprise for him."   
  
Forty-five minutes later, they were walking along a narrow lane leading to the village. According to the street sign they had just passed, it was only about 10 minutes more to the village, which made the entire walk a little more than 20 minutes. Not too bad, really, although it was cold out and her feet were wet. She wished she had taken Molly up on her offer of the boots. She didn't have a coat and so was wearing her thick winter robes. She thought that the two of them probably looked a little strange walking down the road - both wearing thick long cloaks and Molly in a rather peculiar-looking collection of what she called Muggle clothes. All I need now, she thought to herself, is my Hogwarts' uniform hat before even the Muggles are convinced I'm a witch. Molly had her wand, having not dared to leave the house without it and Cassie could understand that. And tucked into Cassie's pocket, wrapped securely in a dishtowel, was one other thing Molly refused to go without - the ugly little statue that was the emergency portkey to headquarters, wherever that was.   
  
"I can apparate by myself but I couldn't very well leave you standing there. It's only for an emergency, of course. Just undo the towel and grab it. You can keep it hidden in your pocket. No one will notice." Cassie had to suppress a grin. She was right. No one would notice the ugly statue, but they would probably notice her sudden disappearance into thin air.   
  
They didn't talk much, although the silence was not really strained. Cassie looked around at the countryside and enjoyed being outside. The air was chilly, appropriate for a week before Christmas, but it was not unbearable. Much improved over the biting cold on the Hogwarts' grounds. She had no idea where she actually was. Ginny had told her the general area of Britain that her family lived in, but her abrupt departure from Hogwarts had not given her any chance to inquire for more specific details. She wondered if this village would even show up on a map, it was obviously very small. She was sure she had never heard of Ottery St. Catchpole and, though she really didn't know how far away they were from London, she imagined that if it were of any substantial size, she would have heard of it at some point.   
  
They arrived at the village without incident, talking a little about Ginny. Cassie told Molly how much Ginny had come to mean to her when she was at Hogwarts and how impressed she was with the girl's skill at magic. Molly was appreciative and enjoyed the anecdotes that Cassie shared about some of their classes. As Cassie expected, the village was small but they did have a shopping district of sorts and they headed that direction. They actually did find a drug store quickly, and Cassie pointed it out to Molly. "Okay, that looks like the type of store that would carry what I need. We can head over there and -" She stopped suddenly with a squeal of alarm and surprise. Molly had started across the street to the store Cassie had indicated but had not checked for traffic. A bright yellow car had slammed on its brakes and avoided hitting the witch by mere inches. Molly was scared, too, hopping back up on the curb but the damage was done. The driver, obviously reacting to what was presumably his biggest scare all day, jumped out of his car and started yelling. Cassie didn't understand everything he was saying as his accent was extremely thick, but she was fairly sure that she got the gist of it. Any doubt she had about certain parts was banished by his rude hand gestures. Molly reached into her sleeve and Cassie knew what she was doing. Her eyes wide, she stepped between the two older people.   
  
"Please, sir, calm down. There's no reason to yell, no damage was done!" He continued to rant, but Cassie persisted, sending frantic signals to Molly to please not pull her wand out. Not that the idea of it scared her, she just wasn't sure how a regular Muggle would react being confronted with a magic wand. It took about five minutes for the man to finally get back in his car and drive away. When Cassie turned to Molly she could see the conflicting emotions of anger and embarrassment on her face.   
  
"I'm sorry, Cassie. I'm not used to having to watch out for those infernal machines." Cassie nodded in sympathy. "I know Arthur likes them. Did you know he had one once?"  
  
"Arthur owned a car?"   
  
"Yes. A blue Ford Anglia. It was a lovely color, and so roomy inside, too." Cassie laughed at that, but then realized Molly was being serious, and tried to turn it into a cough. She didn't succeed too well, but Molly was discussing the car and didn't notice. " . . . . saved their lives, Ron told me, second year when they were talking to the man-eating spiders who seemed adverse to the idea of their leaving." Cassie blinked. Was she still talking about the car? Molly didn't say anything more, and Cassie decided not to ask for further details. She would ask Harry if she remembered.   
  
"Uh, well, gee. That, um, sounds like a handy sort of car to have around."   
  
"Yes. I do hope it's happy in the Forbidden Forest. I sometimes worry about it - I mean what does a wild car do to keep itself occupied in a forest?" Cassie was spared having to answer that question as they crossed the street safely and entered the store. It was small, but well-supplied and Cassie was able to pick up the things that she needed.   
  
First, she found some old sponge-type curlers and managed to get a large bag at a reasonable price. She was sick of flat hair. She also found a small battery-powered alarm clock and a set of batteries to go inside it. Molly was following her, exclaiming in what to Cassie seemed like a loud voice about all the interesting and weird items on the shelves. Other shoppers would glance at them and Cassie would smile back. She usually received a raised eyebrow or smirk in return, but she didn't let it bother her. She found a lighter, a long one designed to light candles that she hoped would work to go down that skinny chimney of the lamps and save her having to light them with matches, which was fast growing old. Along with that, Cassie found a small torch and batteries, which she knew would come in handy when she woke in the middle of the night. She was tired of having to light the lamps when she only needed the light for a few minutes. She had had one at Hogwarts but she imagined it was still under the mattress where she had last left it. Dobby, of course, had not known about its existence and so had not packed it with the rest of her things. Molly examined the torches and Cassie suggested getting one for Arthur, remembering how excited he had been about the one in her house the first time he had come. Molly considered for a few minutes, not convinced that this was unique enough for Arthur to really enjoy. Cassie also noticed, in the small kitchen area, a potato peeler and picked that up as well. When she turned back to Molly, she was not there. After a moment's panic, she heard her exclaiming over something in a nearby section. She hurried over there, to find her rapturously looking through the extension cords.   
  
"These are wonderful. Like really thick rope - only they obviously have something to do with plugs. And this has both the cord part and the plug part, all on one thing."  
  
"Yes, but Molly, Arthur won't be able to use it for anything Shouldn't you get him something useful?" But Molly's mind was made up. She selected a bright red extension cord. "I'll go ahead and pay for that, Molly, you don't need to worry." She placed her purchases on the counter and the clerk rang her up. Cassie pulled the bills out of her pocket and proceeded to count out the correct amount. Molly, just like George, was not used to paper money.   
  
"Oh, I've heard about that paper stuff. Does it really work? Can I see some?" The clerk gave Cassie a rather surprised look, and she just smiled back, but then handed Molly the bills she received as change.   
  
"There you go." Molly handled the paper with interest and then realized that the other people in the check-out line were looking at her.   
  
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass. . . "  
  
"No reason to apologize. I'm finished. Let's go." They walked out of the shop, Molly still holding the bills in her hand which she sheepishly handed back to Cassie, who took them. "I'll explain the idea of the paper money to both you and George, if you're interested. He told me what Arthur told him and he didn't get it quite right." They both grinned indulgently at the thought of Arthur's often muddled explanations of Muggle items. From what Cassie had seen, he usually got things right about how they were used, it was often just the reasoning behind why they were invented or used certain ways that seemed to elude him. And, she supposed, that made sense as he could actually see the things work, while he could not see the thought process behind their use.   
  
"Did you want to look around, dear? I'm in no particular hurry to get back to the Burrow."   
  
"No, thank you. I don't need anything else. Let's just go back." They started back down the lane toward the Burrow. The sky was now overcast and Cassie wondered if they would get rained on. Molly didn't seem concerned at all, so maybe she had some sort of charm that would keep her from getting cold and wet. If she did, Cassie hoped it was one she could cast on her as well. They arrived, however, with no rain falling and Cassie was grateful as she was extremely cold even dry. The temperature was not that bad, not nearly as cold as it had been at Hogwarts, but she was still glad to get into the house, even though it was almost too warm inside.   
  
They had soup for lunch and Cassie was grateful for the warmth of it, not complaining at all either when, after the two bowls had been washed and returned to the cupboard, Molly suggested she curl up under a blanket and read or nap. Cassie looked at the overflowing bookshelves in the living room for something that sounded interesting. Although all the titles were new and unique to her ears, they were all seemingly about magical housekeeping and Cassie wasn't sure she would be able to stay awake through them. Molly told her that all of the bedrooms had bookshelves if she wanted to look there for something more to her liking.   
  
Cassie checked Ginny's room first. She had noticed the bookshelf the first day but had not yet examined the titles. She was pleasantly surprised that along with the old textbooks she no longer used, Ginny had quite a collection of what her mum called dimestore novels - paperback romances. Of course, these were not any of the type she was used to seeing in bookstores and libraries at home. These all seemed to be magically related and set in the wizarding world, which made sense, really. She picked out a few promising ones and stepped back into the hall. She descended three steps when a sudden urge entered her brain and she smiled. Did she dare? Why not? She set the books carefully down on the landing, making sure they were out of the way, and climbed the next set of stairs. She opened the door to the twins' room carefully, hoping that it wasn't set up to play some sort of trick on anyone who crossed the threshold. She knew George hadn't warned her about any such thing, so she wasn't too concerned. Once inside, she stopped and looked around. Everything looked very much like it had when George had been showing her around, with one rather glaring exception. The posters. The ones above Fred's bed were still there, even the one with the skirt-lifting witch, although she was asleep at the moment, which made Cassie laugh. But the ones above George's bed were all gone. She spotted the bookcase in a corner and headed that direction.   
  
There was no collection of unused textbooks here, and Cassie imagined that this was because any books they were done using got passed down to Ron and then to Ginny. The books on these shelves, though, looked almost dangerous. There were books about magic trickery with titles such as "'Did I Do That?' Devious Destruction Techniques," and "Magical Practical Jokes that Will Blow the Pants off Warlocks and Wizards." There were books about fixing damage done such as "The Nuts and Bolts of Repairing Blown-up Items" and "How to Keep your Parents from Finding that Big Hole in your Ceiling." The ones that worried her the most, though, were the ones dealing with how to fix damaged people - they were obviously well-used, judging by the tattered covers. She picked up one called "All of Me: Restoring Lost Ears, Noses, Arms, and Legs" and almost got ill at the pictures inside. There were notes in almost all the margins, many of them in George's handwriting. This did not give her a happy feeling. She tucked that back in the bookcase and picked up "When Good Spells Go Bad" which was equally gory with papers stuck in several places in the text commenting on how well certain suggestions actually worked. With a growing feeling of dread, she picked up the most well-used book on the shelf "Emergency Healing Spells." Both boys had left notes and papers in this one and she glanced at them with interest. This book was not as graphically illustrated and was much more pleasant to look at, although reading the various cures for the emergencies was quite intense enough. She put that back in the shelf also and was about to leave the room, when she noticed a small area with books about Quidditch. She gave a sigh of relief and looked them over carefully. Picking up the most interesting looking one, she left the room; Then she descended to Ginny's landing, collected her novels, and continued down the stairs.   
  
She found a wonderful window seat to curl up in where she could see the garden and the rain which was now falling steadily. She tucked the blanket in around her still-cold feet and spent an enjoyable afternoon reading. Molly was knitting as well as doing some other chores around the house. She also left the house a few times, just briefly in each instance, to take care of some business, which Cassie didn't ask about. They never heard from either of the twins or Arthur, which was good news as far as they were concerned.   
  
Molly fixed fried chicken for dinner and Cassie helped make the mashed potatoes, showing Molly the potato peeler in the process. "That would be very useful if I couldn't make the knife peel them itself. Seems fairly handy. Good thing you picked one up." Molly had wrapped Arthur's present and by the time dinner was ready, she was fairly bursting at the idea of how excited he would be with it. Everyone arrived on time for dinner and no one spoke much as they all devoured the food. Cassie enjoyed the chicken also, and supposed that the much better day everyone had had today as far as the threat levels at work make them all much hungrier than they had been the night before. George and Fred explained that there had been no problem today at all at the shop or anywhere in the Alley, and that most people's thoughts seemed to be turning to Christmas, now a little more than a week away, rather than worrying about whether or not the Order had tried to eliminate Fudge.   
  
"I suppose," Fred opined as he finished the last of his chocolate cake after dinner, "Nightscall hasn't given up on his campaign. But like Dumbledore said, it is definitely more worrisome if the main population is against us, rather than just the Ministry. I, for one, feel a lot better about things." Arthur wasn't so sure it was going to be that easy, but even he seemed considerably more relaxed than he had last night. George volunteered to do the dishes with Cassie if his mum wanted to go sit down and after a few incredulous looks from both Molly and Fred, the two of them got to work.   
  
Cassie realized quite quickly that although Molly made the dishwashing, drying, and putting away spells look extremely easy and did them with an almost lazy grace, that they obviously weren't that basic. George had quite a bit of trouble at times using the magic and it was with a lot of laughing and giggling that Cassie finally started drying the dishes by hand as his plates kept sliding into the cupboard still dripping wet. He acted all offended, insisting that they were supposed to be like that, but grabbed a dishtowel and started helping her after a minute. She loved being with him like this, when there was no pressure on either of them to be anything but themselves and they could laugh and giggle and kiss if they wanted to. She had to show him how to wash a pan by hand as he just could not get it clean with magic and then she also showed him how well dishwashing liquid could get the grease off your hands if you needed it. He was standing there looking appalled as she dried the pan and put it away. "This is gross."   
  
"Just use the dish soap. It takes grease off very well. That is, after all, what it was designed to do." She squirted some on his hands and then turned on the water, rubbing the soap in as she held his hands under the warm stream.   
  
It was only when he said, in a rather hoarse voice, "Is there anything else greasy I need to wash?" that she realized what she was doing and withdrew her hands quickly leaving him to finish rinsing off the soap. He dried his hands on the towel as he had seen her do, and then intertwined his fingers with hers. "I missed you today."   
  
"I missed you, too. I borrowed a Quidditch book from your room, I hope that's all right."   
  
"You went up into my room?"  
  
"Yeah. I thought you said I could."   
  
"Well, I . . ."  
  
"Your collection of emergency healing books was very enlightening to say the least. I take it that you and Fred have used most of them?"  
  
"Yes. . . . they are very handy when we have an accident or something."  
  
"And does this happen often?"  
  
"More often than you probably want to know." Cassie nodded.   
  
"You're right. Don't tell me." She squeezed his fingers. "I also noticed you took down the posters. You didn't need to do that, but thanks."   
  
"Somehow, they had lost their appeal." He smiled down at her and pulled her into his arms. "So, you were reading about Quidditch, huh?"   
  
"A little bit. It's a great game to watch although I don't really understand all the maneuvers and everything. I'd love to see another game. Are the professional teams playing now?"  
  
"No, they play in the spring and summer."   
  
"Too bad."   
  
"Maybe I can take you to a game at Hogwarts again."  
  
"Maybe." But even as she said it, she knew it would most likely never happen. Once this danger was passed and the culprits were identified, she would go home, and that would be the end of her ever watching Quidditch or going to Hogwarts. She wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed him as hard as she could. He coughed and then laughed.   
  
"What was that for?"   
  
"Just because."   
  
"Come on, Mum and Dad are probably wondering what's taking us so long."  
  
"And your mum has a present for Arthur."  
  
"A present?"  
  
"We picked it up today in town."  
  
His brow furrowed. "You took Mum into the village - Why?" he asked when she nodded.   
  
"I needed a few things to make my stay here a little more comfortable."  
  
"Like what? I would have -"  
  
"George, it's nothing you failed to do or anything. I just needed stuff - well, like this potato peeler for example. And a torch."  
  
"A torch?"  
  
"Yeah, I'm sick of lighting the lamps when I just need to see something really fast. Come on, I bet Molly's getting anxious." They walked, hand in hand, out into the living room and Cassie noticed that Molly tried really hard not to stare at their linked fingers as she watched them come through the door.   
  
"Arthur," she stood up and grabbed the wrapped package off the mantel. "I bought this for you today in the Muggle village. I think it's something you will really like." Arthur looked very surprised, but took the package.   
  
"What's the occasion?" He had a sudden look of terror cross his face. "It's not our anniversary or anything, is it?" Cassie practically snickered. Molly just looked disgusted.   
  
"No."  
  
"Oh, Molly! Did I forget your birthday?"   
  
"Why would I be getting you something on my birthday, Arthur? Honestly! And our anniversary is in April! Remember? I just got you something I thought you would like, but if you don't want it, I can certainly return it!" She made to take the package back, but Arthur didn't let go of it, and a lighthearted tug of war developed over the wrapped parcel. Fred and George took sides, George cheering for his father and Fred for his mum while Cassie just laughed until she cried. Wands came out, then, and a few spells were cast in an attempt to gain the advantage. Finally, however, Molly gave in, and with a heartfelt kiss to his now-glowing wife, Arthur opened the package.   
  
At first, he just stared at the red plastic rope in his hands, but then turned it and noticed the outlet end. "Oh! A socket! But this is the strangest thing I've ever seen it on! Marvelous!" He uncoiled the entire five feet and then saw the plug. He did a double take, looking at the outlet end again. "Well, I never! A plug and a socket! Together on the same device?" He picked up the plug in his left hand and held the outlet in his right, inserting the plug and removing it a few times quickly, finally leaving them connected. "I see how this works, but I fail to see the purpose of it." Before Cassie had a chance to explain that he was going about it all wrong, she glanced at George and saw that his face as well as Fred's were both bright red as they attempted to hold in obviously uproarious laughter.   
  
"What?" Fred just shook his head, afraid to speak. George, too, shook his head, indicating that Fred should be the one to tell Cassie. She scowled, wanting to ignore them, but they started laughing loudly then and she had to admit that she was curious. Arthur was exclaiming happily over his new toy, slipping the now-circled cord over his head almost like a necklace. "Well, are you going to tell me or not?" she whispered as he again tried the plug and socket connection, and they burst into renewed hysterics. Fred, apparently, was the one who lost whatever process they had for determining who had to do the next unpleasant task because he glared at George and took Cassie by the arm, bending his head very close to her ear.   
  
"When Dad does that plug/socket thing like that - well, we think it looks obscene!" Cassie's eyes grew very big as she suddenly realized that it certainly could. Then she flushed.   
  
"You two have very dirty minds!" But despite herself, she laughed. She walked over to Arthur. "These aren't meant to actually go together, although of course if you want to keep it that way, it's fine with me. It's sort of, well, we call it an extension cord." She explained the purpose behind it, and Arthur listened carefully, nodding and thinking. But, when he went up to his room to put it away, she told George that she really didn't think he had understood the general idea.


	49. Early Arrival

Chapter 49

Early Arrival

The three of them decided it would be fun to introduce Cassie to some wizarding games. They started out with Exploding Snap. As George dealt the cards, Fred laughed at Cassie's expression. "You look like you know what you're doing."

"I do. Played at Hogwarts. It's fun!"

"Want to make a small bet?"

"Against you two? Do I look insane?"

"Boys - you know I don't like gambling in the house." Molly clucked disapprovingly, her needles clacking against each other as she studied a recipe book. This was the last jumper she had to make - and it turned out it was the 10th one of the year. She had made one for Harry and one for Hermione and even one for Fleur although she had confided to Cassie that very afternoon that she doubted it would ever be worn.

"Yes, Mum. Sorry." But Fred leaned close to Cassie and in a very quiet voice said, "So? How about it?"

"I don't have anything to bet."

"You have money. George brought you back quite a bundle today from Gringott's."

Cassie turned to George with a happy smile. "You exchanged the money?"

"Of course. Would I let you down?"

"And when were you planning on giving it to me?"

"Uh, now. It's in my robe pocket. I'll go get it." A moment later he placed a very heavy velvet bag into her hands. "Plus, I brought you those four packages of fireworks you asked for."

"Great. Did you take the right amount out of this money?"

"No."

"How much do I owe you then?"

"Nothing. I was planning on just giving them to you."

"I can't take them, though. How much?" She looked at Fred. "How much?" Fred shook his head in response. "Fine. I remember how much they were when I bought them for Matthew. That was two boxes, so doubled . . ." She withdrew four Galleons out of her bag. "There. That'll make a nice wager. I'll play you for it." She had no idea how to play when money was involved but she picked up on it pretty quickly. She wound up losing all four Galleons by the time they had played three games, the money sliding under the table when Molly was not looking, but she didn't mind. It had been fun. "What other games do you like, besides Gobstones, which look too complicated for me? Or chess . . . which I would be pummeled in."

"Uh . . ." George looked thoughtful.

"Do you have any dice games? Like Aggravation? Sorry? Yahtzee?" Fred shook his head, looking solemn.

"Wizards don't play with dice, Cassie. Doesn't work well."

"What? Why not?"

"Too easy to cheat." Cassie giggled into her hands.

"But if you promised not to . . . we could play then."

"We could promise . . . but would you really trust us?" George looked pointedly at her, raising his eyebrow.

"No."

"See. There's an inherent problem there."

"You two should invent non-cheating dice. They'd be a hit."

"But -" Fred started.

"We'd be hypocrites." George concluded. All three of them laughed.

Fred looked at George. "We could team up with chess. You and your little girlfriend against me. See how you'd do. I normally beat the proverbial pants off you. Maybe she could help your pitiful game."

"You normally beat me? In your dreams! Usually, I'm the one beating the pants off you - and not the proverbial ones either. The real ones." Cassie noted with no small amount of happiness in her heart that George had not disputed the "little girlfriend" comment. It was one thing to say it to her and another to have it spoken aloud with other family members. Her heart leapt in her chest, even though she tried to quell it a little bit. No use getting too excited.

Despite these thoughts, Cassie laughed as Fred retrieved the chess board and pieces. He placed the pieces on the board and all three watched as they stretched, yawned and dutifully moved to their proper places. Once they were all in place, a number of the pieces looked up at the twins expectantly. Cassie wondered if she could ever play Muggle chess again after watching wizard chess. Not that she was an expert at that either, never having played before Harry introduced her to the game six months ago. She and George sat down across from Fred and watched as he moved first. George wrapped his arm around Cassie as he too made a move. During the next hour, George would frequently ask Cassie for her opinion as he pondered his moves. She usually just grinned and told him to move whichever piece would be the best. However, sometimes she would make what turned out to be very good suggestions. One of her suggestions caused a small stir when the knight began complaining loudly that he would be in danger and George should not trust the judgement of a woman when it came to battle. Cassie reconsidered her thought about not liking Muggle chess. At least Muggle chess pieces don't talk back or insult the players.

As the three played their game, they visited about the twins' magic shop and their Christmas business. Even with the problems with the Death Eaters and in the Ministry of Magic, business was going very well for the twins.

"I think people just need to have some fun, some laughs. People are doing their best to forget about everything going on," Fred mused.

"And we're doing our best to help them forget," George grinned. "We have something for just about every type of person and event."

Well, speaking of that, I have an idea or two for Ginny and Hermione, but I'm at a bit of a loss for Ron and Harry. I was thinking they might want something from your shop."

"Well, whatever you want, we can bring it home to you."

"That's the problem. I don't know what each of them would like. I was thinking maybe I would just take the easy way out and give them each a gift certificate. Do you offer them for about, oh, 10 Galleons each. I probably can't really spend much more than that." For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Cassie looked away from the chess board and into two completely blank stares.

"What do you mean?" George asked.

"You know, a gift certificate - a gift card, something like that." Still silence. "You mean you've never heard of a gift certificate? Well, you are seriously missing out. They're very popular at home. Because they're so great for businesses."

"What are they exactly? Tell us!" Fred started stuffing the pieces back into the box and they complained the entire time, until he put the lid back on. "We're always looking for a new angle."

Some stores, well most stores actually, sell a piece of paper that a person can pay for, say 10 or 20 , and it says that whoever brings the certificate into the store can use it toward buying something. It's a great way for someone to give a gift if they can't figure out exactly what to give. It's like giving cash as a gift. But cash that has to be used for something from your store."

The twins reaction was immediate and energetic. "Wow! People pay money for pieces of paper?!"

"Yeah, but the thought is that later the person will come in and exchange the certificate for merchandise."

"So . . . that sounds great, but how does it help us exactly? I mean, besides being a nice thing to help people who can't decide . . ."

"Well, yes. That's the whole point, isn't it? They may decide to go elsewhere if they can't make their mind up between the . . . fireworks or the candy or the . . . uh, school items. But once they buy the certificate, you're set. Usually you specify that the certificate cannot be exchanged again for cash." Cassie was racking her brain. She remembered reading an article about what stores liked about gift certificates but she couldn't remember all the points. Suddenly she remembered. "Oh, yeah! Okay. Plus, let's say I gave Ron a gift certificate for 10 Galleons. He comes in to exchange it but picks out 15 Galleons worth of merchandise. He is only paying 5 now, so he coughs it up. So you've already made more money than you would have anyway."

Fred nodded, obviously following the logic of that. "But what if he only finds 8 Galleons worth of stuff?"

"Well, you give him the 2 Galleons back, but you haven't lost anything, no matter what." She suddenly remembered another reason stores liked selling gift certificates at Christmas time. "And then, also, there's less drain on your inventory right at Christmas time. People come in to redeem the certificates after Christmas, of course, when you're less stressed about running out of things."

George was nodding now. "That makes perfect sense to me. Plus, we wouldn't have to spend as much time helping people who have no idea about any of our merchandise. We could just direct them to the certificates." Cassie smiled. They both seemed really enthused. Of course, it was too late for this year, but they would almost certainly offer them next. Then, as clearly as though it were written on George's arm laying on the table in front of her, she remembered the final reason stores liked people to buy gift certificates and thought it would certainly appeal to the more devious side of the twins' personalities.

"Plus, I need to tell you the biggest reason you definitely want to sell gift certificates." At the look in Fred's eye, she started to laugh. She could hardly wait to see how excited they were about this. "I think that up to about 30 percent of people who get gift certificates never bother to exchange them. They either lose them or they don't remember by the expiration date or something." It took a moment for that to sink in, but when it did, both their faces broke into identical grins.

"You have got to be kidding me!" George exclaimed. "You mean to tell me that people come in, buy a piece of paper which someone could exchange for merchandise and no one ever bothers to come in to exchange it? It's like making Galleons in the basement!" Cassie nodded enthusiastically. She had done that herself in the past. Someone would give her a gift certificate and she'd forget all about it and find it months later. It would frustrate her, but not really get her mad at the store or the giver of the certificate because it hadn't been their fault after all. Just at herself for being such an idiot.

All three of them sat in silence for a few minutes. "Are you done with the game? That ended rather quickly." Arthur stood up from the easy chair where he had been reading the Daily Prophet.

"I'm really tired, Arthur. I begged off." Cassie stood up next to him. "I think I'll head up to bed." She smiled at everyone, wishing them all a good night, and started up the stairs. She didn't say anything to George, of course, but she had noted that it was now about 9:30. She thought that if she hurried to take her bath and curl her hair, she would still have a few minutes where it was legal to be alone with him. Not that Fred wasn't really fun, because he was, but it wasn't the same.

She happily lit her torch in her room. This had definitely been worth the trip today, just for this. She was tempted to try out her lighter, but decided to wait until she really wanted the lamps lit. By the light of the torch, she gathered her toiletry bag, her new bag of curlers, and her bathrobe. She also picked up George's shirt, grinning to herself. She was heading down the hall into the bathroom when she was grabbed from behind and pulled back against a solid warm body. "Hi."

"Hi. I was hoping I could catch you before you got into the bathroom. Are you going to take another bubble bath?"

"I was planning on it."

"I thought so. I brought you something you can use."

"What is it?" He held out a stoppered glass bottle of a blue liquid. "Okay. Thank you. But what is it?"

"Bubble bath."

"Oh." She flushed slightly. She had kind of been hoping it was the potion for her hair. But she was also embarrassed. He apparently thought she was using too much of Ginny's nice bubble bath. "Thank you. I guess I'll have to replace Ginny's, huh?"

"No . . . I wouldn't bother. She won't mind that you've used it."

"Then why did you give me more?" It was his turn to flush.

"Well . . . I, uh. Boy, this is hard to say. You know how they always say that the sense of smell is the strongest part of memory?"

"Yeah. I remember reading about that somewhere."

"You smell like my little sister. And you're about her size. And. . . . it's been sort of hard to, uh."

"You didn't seem to be complaining last night," she teased as his face turned bright red.

"I can talk myself into knowing it's you. And your hair smells right, but I thought this might help me not keep dreaming about snogging Ginny."

"And that would be good?"

"Yes. Very good." She unscrewed the cap and smiled. It smelled just like her shampoo.

"Um. How did you do that? It smells perfect."

"Hey! I run a joke shop, remember? That was easy."

"I see." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. "Well, I better get in there and give it a try." She really wanted to ask him to wait up for her, but didn't. The bubble bath was nothing like Ginny's, which had produced such nice thick bubbles. This was a little more, uh, lively. It was a thick blue liquid that poured nicely and smelled wonderful. But when the bubbles started forming, it reminded Cassie rather unpleasantly of the Terrible Twins' Tonic she and George had drunk all those months ago. The bubbles popped with little explosions. The noise and lights weren't exactly frightening, but she was a little hesitant to put her foot into the bath. She decided, though, that George would never hurt her or even take a chance of it, so she bravely stuck her foot in the water. She laughed and happily sunk all the way into the tub. Heavenly, that was the only word for it. The small explosions were only on the top of the water and actually invigorated her skin where it touched. After just a few minutes, they settled down and the sudsy bubbles were still heavily present when she drained the tub about 20 minutes later. She dried herself and slipped George's shirt over her head. Very comfortable. She giggled and then pulled her bathrobe over it. She opened the door and looked up and down the hall. She admitted to herself that she was a little disappointed that George hadn't waited. But she spent the next 20 minutes trying to get her hair into the sponge curlers and by the time she was done with that torturous process, she decided that maybe it was all for the best. She was certainly not looking very romantic at the moment. She slipped down the hall into her room and into bed. Sleep came quickly and it wasn't until the battery-powered alarm clock went off at 6:00 a.m. the next morning that she remembered why sponge curlers had gone out of style. They were darn uncomfortable to sleep in.

She stretched and groaned. This was awfully early. Of course, that probably meant the twins weren't up yet so she could have the bathroom first. That would be nice. She wanted to get the curlers out right away. She patted her head experimentally. Her hair felt dry. She opened the bedroom door and peered out, looking to the left and the right before stepping out into the hall. The bathroom door was open and the light was out so she figured she was safe to go in. She was halfway down the hall when she heard a step on the stair. She turned to see who it was and George's smiling face came into view a moment later. She should have run for it, she thought. Too late now, though. George's eyes widened at the sight of her.

"Aaagh!" Then his hand clapped over his mouth like he couldn't believe he had been so stupid as to vocalize his thoughts. "What have you done to your hair? Please tell me that's not a popular Muggle hairstyle, because no offense, but it's horrible."

Cassie pursed her lips and forced down the hot flush of embarrassment that was threatening to wash over her face. "I haven't done anything. They're curlers. When I take them out, my hair will be curly. Well, hopefully. Haven't worn them for years."

"Why start now?"

"Thanks. I appreciate your thoughtfulness." She hoped he picked up on the sarcasm in her tone. "It has something to do with the fact that you have no such thing as electricity. My hot rollers and curling iron refuse to work without it. So, aside from braiding it, I can't curl it. Ginny curled it for me at Hogwarts but I figured no one here would do it for me." She looked George square in the eye, daring him to offer to do it. Of course, he didn't.

"Oh. Does it really work?"

"Yeah. It should." He leaned back against the wall, grinning at her.

"I'll wait." She hurried into the bathroom and started pulling the curlers out of her hair. A few moments later he was standing in the open door, watching with interest as she took them out as quickly as she could. "It looks like it's working." She nodded. "Did you like the bubble bath last night?"

"It was wonderful. At first, I was a little nervous, but then it was very nice. Do you sell it?" He shook his head, watching with unabashed fascination as she finished taking the curlers out. "You should. It made for a really nice bath."

"I made it up just for you. I'm not sure I could do it again." Cassie's eyes opened in surprise.

"You . . . what did you say?"

"I said I made it just for you." She pulled the last curler out of her hair and groaned as the curl flopped in front of her face. She pushed it back behind her ear and hugged him, not daring to kiss him first thing in the morning. She hadn't brushed her teeth yet or anything. His hands threaded through the curls. "These are nice. I do remember your hair was curly when I first met you. Curly and blond."

"Thank you. I'm going to go help Molly with breakfast. See you in a few minutes." She ran to her bedroom and threw on some clothes, listening with one ear to the sound of the running water. Molly was happy to have her help this morning as she was desperately trying to finish the last of the knitting and turned the entire meal over to her. She made oatmeal and set out some honey and brown sugar to go on it. George and Fred descended the steps about 20 minutes after she had and they sat down to breakfast while she ran upstairs to finish her morning absolutions. Feeling much more presentable, she sat down with everyone else for breakfast and helped Molly clean up after all three of the men had left.

Molly and she got right to work filling out order forms and mailing them off with the family owl, who looked overwhelmed at the amount of gold he was carrying . Cassie was really getting concerned about making sure things came back in time for Christmas. Molly kept assuring her things were still fine, but she was anxious to get the actual ordering process underway.

As they were finishing up the orders for Christms, talk seemed to turn naturally to the next big event after Christmas, Bill and Fleur's wedding.

They spent the rest of the morning, as the knitting needles finished the last sleeve on Ron's maroon sweater, looking through the things Molly was assembling for the wedding. "Of course, it is mainly her parents' responsibility to take care of most of the wedding, but they are so far away that much of it is falling to me." Cassie was dying to see a picture of Bill's fiancee. Molly again talked about how pretty she was, again mentioning that she was part Veela (which Cassie still didn't understand) and again saying how happy she made Bill. Cassie smiled calmly, trying not to take too much of what Molly said personally. They were getting along really well and Molly even agreed with a few of her suggestions for the flowers. Lunch was a quick affair, with both of them studying bridal magazines as they ate. Molly was worried about getting dresses done for the bridesmaids on time and Cassie thought that was a legitimate cause for concern. They now had only about two months which would be time for a major panic attack if this were a Muggle wedding. But it wasn't and apparently the robe-makers typically didn't take too long once the things were ordered. Cassie had just slipped the last magically dried dish into the cupboard when two loud pops echoed in the kitchen.

Molly whirled to face the newcomers. "Oh, no! What's wrong!" George took a deep breath. "We're not sure. We really need to talk to Dad."


	50. Into the Air and Out of the Fire

Chapter 50  
Into the Air and Out of the Fire  
  
Before Molly could respond to George's comment about the twins' needing to talk to their father, there was a loud pop and there stood Arthur. Molly smiled wearily at him. "Arthur. So glad you're here."   
  
He in turn looked at the boys. "I'm glad you're home. I was afraid they may not have let you go."  
  
"What's going on, Arthur?"   
  
He looked past Molly to the twins who were now placing some boxes on the kitchen table. "What did they tell you? What is happening? Kingsley tried to tell me but didn't really have the time to . . ."  
  
"The Aurors are at Diagon Alley in force. They've closed down all of the shops, saying they've heard Death Eaters are going to attack sometime this afternoon. They're evacuating the entire street." Molly gasped in surprise and sat down in the nearest chair.  
  
"Would the Death Eaters dare to do that? It's so bold . . . almost desperate. We'll need to help the Aurors, then."  
  
"Molly, I don't want to be too hasty. I think we need to at least speak with Dumbledore before we rush into anything. I've sent him an urgent message to meet us at Headquarters and I think we should go there. That way we can coordinate our efforts." Molly nodded and the twins, solemn faced, also agreed.   
  
Molly gave Cassie a worried glance. "Are you going to be all right alone again for a while, dear?"  
  
"Of course. I'll be fine. I have plenty to read and things." She hugged George briefly, kissing him on the cheek while Molly fetched her cloak and then stepping back as the four of them prepared to disapparate. Before any of them actually went, though, George help up his hand.   
  
"Wait. I don't think we should leave Cassie here by herself."   
  
"She'll be fine. I've left her alone before."   
  
"I know. And if there were some guarantee that we would be back in an hour or even two I would agree. But, we might be several hours or longer." Cassie was shaking her head.   
  
"I really will be fine. If I get scared or worried, I can always use the Portkey. The important thing is that you go to the meeting and find out what you need to do to help."   
  
"Let's just take her with us and she can wait there during the meeting. If we, uh, go fight, she'll be safer there and someone can make sure she's taken care of." A frisson of fear shot through Cassie at that moment, because she suddenly realized what George was talking about. They could possibly decide during this meeting to go to Diagon Alley and fight the Death Eaters. And there was a real possibility, although she prayed it was a very small one, that he or any of the other Weasleys would not ever return to the Burrow. That was why George didn't want her left alone. She swallowed hard. Arthur looked at her for a long minute.   
  
"Yes, George, I definitely see your point. It would be safer if she were at Headquarters if something, uh, unexpected happened." Arthur glanced over at the kitchen shelves and saw the ugly little statue. "I think the easiest thing to do is have her Portkey there. It's set to take her right into the front entry and we don't have to worry about the charm and everything."   
  
"I'll go with her, then."   
  
"The Portkey is only set up to take her through the wards. Sorry. She'll have to go alone." George looked disappointed but Fred looked quite concerned.   
  
"We can't send her there alone. It's not fair. It will take us at least a few minutes to get past the charm and meanwhile she could be in some danger."  
  
"At Headquarters? They all know who she is. They wouldn't hurt her." So, a moment later, Cassie took the small Portkey in her hand and only a heartbeat later found herself flat on her back, looking at a very tall ceiling of dark wood and ancient beams. She stood quickly before anyone could see her in this humiliating position. She hated those stupid Portkeys. She soon realized she was in an ornate entry hall which was completely empty except for some overdone furnishings which included one extremely ugly umbrella stand designed to look like some sort of huge foot. She grimaced. The doorbell rang loudly and Cassie's eyes widened. Should she answer it? There was a noise from a room off the entry and someone she did not recognize walked into the hall. She did a double-take at seeing Cassie there but hurried and opened the door, admitting all the Weasleys. George rushed in without even saying thank you to the witch. When he saw Cassie standing there, his face broke into a smile.   
  
"Fancy meeting you here." She just smiled at him and at the other Weasleys who rushed in behind him. Molly was talking to the witch while Arthur turned his attention to the door. She watched with a sense of acute deja-vu as Arthur quickly fastened multiple locks which clicked with a heavy sort of finality. As he locked the last one, there was a curious sound and Cassie realized what it meant.   
  
"Is this house Fidelius Charmed?" George's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. He was obviously amazed that she knew about that. At his nod, Cassie frowned. "I don't trust that sort of magic very much."   
  
"What do you know about Fidelius Charms?"   
  
"I know they don't work very well." George was about to answer her when Remus walked into the hall. He looked at the assembled group.   
  
"Come on. Dumbledore has arrived already and we've already started the meeting." He smiled warmly at Cassie in greeting. "Sorry but you really . . ."  
  
"No. It's fine. I'll just look around a little." A minute later she was standing alone in the hall again. Before she could decide where to go or what to look at, George poked his head into the hall again.   
  
"Go on up into the drawing room on the first floor. You can wait there and there are things to look at. I won't leave without letting you know, okay?" She barely had a chance to nod before he disappeared again. She climbed a long staircase. There were only two rooms on this landing and she opened the first door, deciding this was probably the room he had meant. It was, like the entry hall, decorated with heavy ornate furniture that had probably been in style 300 years ago. The room was bright and airy but a sense of heaviness and of some foreboding hung in the air and made her skin crawl slightly. She sat down on a chair to wait, but after a few minutes decided to look around. There were all sorts of interesting things in this room and she might as well take the opportunity to look.   
  
There were pictures on the wall of a few people Cassie did not recognize although she stopped with a sudden jolt at a picture of someone she did. It was Harry with a dark-haired man who was laughing at someone not in the picture. Harry was smiling and looking relaxed. She studied the portrait for a while, trying to place Harry's age. He looked younger than he was now but not by very much, possibly only two or three years. She studied the picture with more interest. It had been taken in this room, but when it was taken, the room looked a lot different. She could see a heavy glass cabinet behind Harry that was no longer anywhere in the room. She was only sure it was this room due to the unusual window treatment which was identical. She wondered who the man was in the portrait. She moved on, stopping again a few moments later. There was another picture of the same man, this time much younger than he was in the portrait with Harry. He was very handsome, whoever he was. As she continued around the room, she saw several pictures of him along with some people whom she actually did recognize including one with Remus. But it wasn't until she looked carefully at the huge worn tapestry on the wall that she finally realized who the man in the portraits was. Sirius Black. This house obviously belonged to the Blacks if the huge genealogy sewn onto the tapestry was any indication.   
  
She went back over to the portrait of Harry with the man she suspected was his Godfather, trying to remember what Harry had told her about the man. He had been the Potter's best man at their wedding but then a few years later was suspected of betraying them to Voldemort and having them killed. Then he had spent time in prison but she couldn't remember how he had gotten out. She couldn't even remember how long ago Harry had found him but she did remember that Harry was 15 when he was killed. By his own cousin. What was her name? It was a fancy name, she remembered that much. She walked back over to the tapestry, looking at Sirius' name and trying to see the names of his cousins. She started at the name Tonks . .. obviously some relation to the Tonks of the fireplace although she hadn't realized that was actually a last name rather than just a strange first name. Made more sense really. She almost jumped out of her skin when she saw the name Malfoy on the tapestry though, and when she saw Draco Malfoy carefully embroidered under the name of his mother and father, she wanted to grab some scissors and cut him out. Yuck. Well, it wasn't Narcissa Malfoy who had done it. She looked for a little longer before she recognized the right name. Bellatrix. Yeah. She was pretty sure that was who it had been who had somehow killed Sirius. She walked back to the picture of Harry again. She was still studying it when George found her.  
  
"That's Sirius Black."   
  
"Yeah. I figured that out. He seems very happy in this picture."   
  
"He was never happy in this house, but when Harry was here it was better."   
  
"But isn't this his house?"  
  
"Yes. It was. But he was hated here and he hated back. They were all dark wizards you see." He indicated the tapestry. "He always said it was the final irony that we would use the house of some of the darkest wizards in history as a headquarters for a fight against them. He always smirked when he said it. It was, in a way, a revenge for him."   
  
"Harry misses him."   
  
"Yes. We all do but Harry more than most. He was . . . well, he was an interesting character. Dark, brooding, frightening almost. But magnetic. Like you couldn't be in a room with him and not notice him. He did not blend into the wallpaper. It was really sad when he died. Come on downstairs. We're going back to the Burrow. Everyone is waiting."   
  
"Aren't you going to go fight?"   
  
"No. We're pretty sure that the entire thing is a set up to get Order members to come out into the open. Since Saturday night, the Ministry has been trying to identify us so we can be arrested, remember? We decided it is not worth the risk. If the Death Eaters show up, the Aurors will have to handle them themselves." His mouth turned up a bit. "Dumbledore says that if Nightscall is really convinced the Death Eaters aren't a threat, this may help change his mind. If they show up at all, of course." They descended the stairs into the entry where Molly, Arthur, and Fred were all talking to Remus.   
  
"Hi, Cassie."   
  
"Hi, Remus. It's good to see you. How's Hogwarts doing without me?"  
  
"It somehow is managing to still be standing." Cassie laughed. Remus handed her a wadded-up piece of parchment and the ugly statue again. "The parchment will take you back to the Burrow and this other Portkey has been activated again so you can come back here if you are ever threatened."   
  
"Thank you."   
  
"Don't thank me, thank Dumbledore. Oh, and George can go with you to the Burrow if you want. It's set up a little different than the emergency one." He winked and Cassie flushed bright red. Did everyone know about their relationship?   
  
George obviously wasn't embarrassed at all. He just smiled and wrapped his arms around her. "There, that should help you stay standing up when we land." Molly scowled slightly but Cassie turned her head into George's shoulder and just breathed in the smell of him that was so distinctly personal. This was much better than traveling alone. She had her doubts that anything would help her remain upright but a few moments later when her feet hit solid ground, she had to admit George was right. She just let him absorb all the force and they both stayed on their feet. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"   
  
"I guess not. It's still not something I enjoy doing, but there's not much I can do about it." A few seconds later, Molly and Fred joined them in the kitchen, Arthur having apparently gone straight back to work. Molly said nothing about the previous embrace, and looked now with more interest at the piles of boxes the twins had brought with them earlier.   
  
"What is all that stuff, boys? I hope it's not here to stay."   
  
"No. It's just stuff that we didn't want destroyed if the store was attacked - prototypes of new products, some paperwork, etc" George opened a small box. "Plus . . . Cassie. We wanted to show you what we came up with. I hope it's what you had in mind. We've already sold a few this morning. People were a little hesitant but when we explained more, they were pleased with the idea." He held up a stack of parchment and Cassie looked with amazement at what he and Fred had done.   
  
"How did you possibly get these done already?" And then she laughed because if you could count on anyone to take an idea and put their own twist on it, it was George and Fred and they hadn't let her down. The gift certificates were beautifully done, the calligraphy elaborate, the colors vivid. On the back were all the things she had told them they should probably include - the statement that they were not redeemable for cash, the expiration date, etc.   
  
"But wait, you haven't seen the best part yet." Fred said, holding up his wand. "Let's say you bought this one for only 5 Galleons." He touched the Weasley Wizard Wheezes logo on the front of the certificate. "Happy Christmas" the certificate said, but in a rather dreary voice. It reminded Cassie very much of Eeyore's voice in a Winnie the Pooh cartoon, saying the right words but sounding like it didn't believe them at all. "But if you get the 10 Galleon one . . ." This time the voice said, "Happy Christmas!" in a bright cheery voice that sounded very sincere. Cassie laughed and even Molly chimed in.   
  
"That's great!" Cassie exclaimed.  
  
"There's more." He pulled a 20 Galleon certificate from the middle of the pile. "Listen to this." The voice this time was accompanied by some Christmas music in the background. "Happy Christmas from someone who really cares!"   
  
"And," George added, "if you want more than 20 Galleons, we set it up so you can personalize your own message! It's really neat. And it's working because our first customer was only going to get the 5 Galleon one until she heard the message. She scowled a bit but got the 10 Galleon one in the end." Cassie shook her head.   
  
"You two are incredible!" She hugged Fred quickly and then George. "I hope those really wind up helping the shop."  
  
"They will, I'm sure." Fred said and George nodded.   
  
"Thanks for the idea. We did these two for you as a thank you." She looked at the two in his hand and laughed. They were personalized, one with Harry's name and the other with Ron's, plus each of them had a broomstick on it that zoomed in and out of the letters. Then when Fred touched the logo with his wand, instead of the generic message, the voice said "Happy Christmas, Harry, from Cassie" and there was an identical greeting for Ron.   
  
"Oh, how nice. You didn't have to go to all that extra work for me! But thank you. I'll take these upstairs and get my money."  
  
"Cassie?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Why don't you bring back down your heavy cloak? Since I'm home for the afternoon, I thought I would take you flying. Does that sound like fun?"   
  
"That would be absolutely marvelous! Thank you! I'll hurry as fast as I can!" Cassie ran up the steps. Flying! She had loved it the only time she had been on a broomstick and it was one of her best memories from that entire surreal episode in June. She hoped George would be willing to do a few loops and things. That had been so fun! She grabbed 20 galleons out of her money bag, tucking the certificates into her trunk, where her few other presents were hidden. She hoped that the things she had ordered from the catalogs would come in time for Christmas. If not, it was going to be a bit embarrassing. She grabbed her heavy cloak and started right down the stairs, then reconsidered and ran back into Ginny's room for her hat. True, it was hardly a fashion statement, but it would keep her ears warm, at least. George was waiting for her alone in the kitchen when she descended. "Hi. I hurried. You haven't changed your mind, have you?"  
  
"No." He looked at her with a rather strange expression on his face. "Cassie, have you ever flown before? I mean, you don't sound nervous at all."   
  
"Yes. I've flown! It was so wonderful! Harry took me up in June, around the castle and everything. I didn't like going over the lake, though." She laughed and fastened the cloak around her neck. "I'm still going to freeze to death out there." She kept the hat in her hand. She'd put it on when she needed it and not before. No use being laughed at unnecessarily.   
  
"Harry took you flying in June?"  
  
"Yes. He has a really nice broom. And he did some loops and things - well, once I got used to being up in the air. When we first started, he just flew straight and kind of slow, I guess, although it didn't feel slow to me!" They stepped outside, Cassie blinking in the bright afternoon sun. "It's lovely out today!" She felt like skipping down the path or just taking off and running, she was so excited, but she forced herself into a more sedate pace. He didn't seem as enthused.   
  
"Why would Harry have taken you flying?"   
  
"I think it was kind of a goodbye present for me. Of course, he didn't know about all of this other, how could he, after all, and wanted to make it nice. He even had Hagrid find some unicorns!" She turned bright eyes to George. "Have you ever seen a unicorn, or petted one? It was so exciting!"   
  
"Yes, but-"  
  
"There was even a baby! Its coat was pure gold. I've never seen anything so beautiful!"  
  
"They are pretty, but I think you missed my point. I mean, why was Harry taking you flying? Instead of Ron or Ginny or someone."   
  
She looked at him, puzzled. "Well, I hardly knew Ginny after all. I'd only met her the previous day and although I knew Ron a little better, it was not much, and I don't think I would have trusted him enough to take me on a broom. And I think Hermione said she doesn't like to fly. Silly girl!" She couldn't help it then. The sun was just too beautiful and all the excitement she was feeling just had to come out. She stuck her arms out to the side and twirled around - probably looking like an idiot, but she didn't care. Then she remembered. "Besides, you were all busy, or at least Ron and Ginny had gone to the hospital wing with your mum and dad to see Charlie. Were you there that morning?"   
  
"Yeah." He stopped walking altogether which frustrated Cassie because she wanted to get to the brooms before something happened that would mean he couldn't take her up. "I wondered where Harry was that morning. But . . .what were you doing at Hogwarts, anyway? Now that I think about it, I don't think I've ever found out."   
  
"Well, I had to come. Or I certainly would have been dead. And it's a good thing, too, let me tell you. I never told Harry but his house was completely destroyed when we left. I went to see it and it was just a huge pile of rubble. There was absolutely nothing left! So I'm glad the portkey worked. But I don't want to talk about that now! I want to fly! Come on, I'll race you!" And she started running, barely catching out of the corner of her eye the surprised look on his face as she took off. He, of course, caught up with her easily, passed her, and was waiting grinning at the broom shed when she arrived. But she didn't care if he laughed at her.   
  
He pulled his broom out of the shed, shaking his head as he shut the door again. "I don't get up nearly as often as I'd like to, now. Of course, in the winter it gets dark so early that it's almost impossible after work." He set the broom in mid-air and indicated that she should get on.   
  
"Actually, why don't you get on first to hold it and then I'll climb on behind you. It worked better that way last time." His eyebrow shot up again but he did as she suggested and a few seconds later she stepped over the broom and sat down. She then realized that this outing into the air would be a significant improvement over the last. She had had to hold onto Harry, there had been no choice, but she had been slightly self-conscious and so had he and so she had never really relaxed. This time, as her arms wrapped around George's waist and she really hugged him, she thought of the possibilities. He started slowly, maybe checking to make sure she really knew how to stay on, or maybe just reacquainting himself with the broom, but after a few minutes, the broom edged up higher and sped up. Cassie laughed and buried her face in the warmth of his back, then turned her head to watch as the ground sped by beneath her. The brightness of the sun was deceptive. It was very cold up here and the wind was biting. She wished she had risked ridicule and pulled the hat on before they started. But with George acting like a windscreen, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.   
  
She relaxed against him, thinking that she loved the feel of the wind in her hair and the freedom of flying. Cassie wasn't jealous of her friends' magical abilities. She had months ago accepted the fact that some people could do magic and others couldn't - and all the wishing in the world could not change that. However, when it came to flying, Cassie's attitude was a little different. She really envied their being able to go out whenever they wanted, get on a broom and fly up into the air. They could always feel the rush of the wind in their faces and the thrill of flight. If only she could do that, she'd be one of the happiest girls in the world. As they flew, George's hand settled over both of hers where they rested around his waist and he patted them. She looked up and saw his face turned toward her. His mouth was moving but she couldn't hear him.   
  
"What?! I can't hear you!" He spoke again and this time she barely heard the word "fun." "Yes! It's great!" She was yelling at the top of her lungs but the wind was snatching the words practically out of her mouth. They flew for a while over the house and the gardens and she just held on to him and thought about how fantastic this afternoon was turning out to be, considering that it had started out on such a bad note. He yelled again but she couldn't hear what he said so she just nodded. Much to her disappointment, he tipped the broom handle downward and started descending again. Inwardly, she cursed at herself. He had probably asked if she were too cold or something. She really didn't want to go down yet though. She was cold but not frozen and his warmth was seeping through his robes and keeping at least most of her fairly thawed. They landed smoothly a few moments later and she sat there holding onto him tightly, unwilling to slide off the broom and admit that the ride was over.   
  
"You can let go now, Cassie."  
  
"I could, but I don't want to."   
  
"Well, you can stay back there if you want to. I just thought you might enjoy the other."  
  
"What other?"  
  
"So you didn't really hear me, then?"  
  
"No, but I figured you were asking if I was having a good time."   
  
"I actually asked you if you wanted to take a turn steering the broom." Cassie just stared up into his face.   
  
"You're going to let me . . . steer the broom?"  
  
"If you want to."   
  
"Yes! I'd love it! Can I really do it?"  
  
"I think so. If not, I'll take over. We'll get up high enough so all you have to do is go straight for a while until you get used to controlling it. But that means you're going to have let go of me and come around to the front." She loosened her grip on him and stepped off the broom. She was a little nervous as she settled herself in front of him and his arms curved around her waist.   
  
"Oh! I will definitely need my hat now or my ears will freeze off."   
  
"That would be bad." He didn't even laugh as she slipped the knitted cap down over the tops of her ears although he did cough rather strangely and she suspected that it may have been an attempt to cover up a laugh that had caught him unawares.   
  
"So what do I do to steer this thing?"   
  
"Just start to point the handle in the direction you want to go. This broom handles easily, even with the two of us so it won't be too hard. Just take it slow and easy, we don't want to tip sideways suddenly or anything."   
  
"Can we do some loops or anything?"  
  
"Well, I'll think about it." He kicked off the ground and she pointed the handle of the broom at the sky. It didn't take very long for her to realize that this was even better than the other way. The broom responded beautifully to her increasingly confident maneuvering and George told her she was doing an excellent job. "I'm enjoying this, Cassie. I can talk to you when you're in front." And it was true. He could speak directly in her ear which meant that she could actually hear what he was saying and if she only turned her head slightly, he could hear her, too. Much nicer.   
  
As they flew around the tops of the trees of the paddock, George pointed out different things like the Burrow, the gardens, and the River Otter. Cassie wanted to go further but he insisted that they stay within the wards which meant that they had a fairly restricted flying area. She was relaxed and enjoying the entire experience when a bright blue blur passed directly in front of her and she leaned back into George in a sudden panic which caused the broom to veer up suddenly. She concentrated hard on getting control of it while George just told her she was doing fine. He had grabbed onto the handle in case she needed help but she could tell from the way the broom was responding that he wasn't doing anything. The blue blur came up beside them and she scowled at Fred.   
  
"Oi! George! Cassie! I didn't realize she was steering! Sorry about that!" His voice carried fine despite the wind.   
  
"You should be! You could have killed us!" Cassie yelled back. She was embarrassed and probably taking it all a bit personally, but she was chagrined at how stupid she had looked. George squeezed her shoulders reassuringly.   
  
"So, George, want to play broom tag?"  
  
"No! We do not want to play broom tag!"  
  
"Yes! I'd love to, what do I do!" Cassie and George answered at the same time and Fred could barely suppress a smile at her enthusiastic answer. "George, what do I do to play?"   
  
"Are you sure you want to do this?"  
  
"Yes! It sounds great!"   
  
"Well, he goes first since he offered. Everything he does, we do. Try to do exactly the same thing and we try to catch him at the same time. If any part of our broom touches any part of him or his broom, then it's our turn to lead. I'm not sure about this . . . if you really, really want to play, we could go land and let you get on behind again."  
  
"Are you crazy? No way! Let's go!"   
  
Fred heard her and took off like a shot. The next half hour was the most fun Cassie could ever remember having in her entire life. It was exhilarating racing around through the air and Fred gave her no quarter, or at least she didn't think so. She got to do all the loops and swerves and dives that she could have ever possibly wanted to do. George helped her with some of the trickier maneuvers. They caught him twice and he caught them three tsimes before George finally waved him off. "That's enough. We're going down. She's freezing." Cassie took a minute to register this and realized that indeed she was really cold. Under her heavy cloak and hat, she was shivering almost uncontrollably. The excitement of the game had kept her adrenalin up but now the cold was moving to the forefront of her brain and she wondered how she was managing to stay on the broom. They quickly descended to the ground and dismounted. Cassie's legs were a little wobbly and George reached out to steady her. As he did so, he pulled her into his arms and close to his own body.   
  
"You should have told me how cold you were up there. Mum is going to kill me if I bring you back frozen. Here, take my cloak."  
  
"No. It's a long walk back. You need something."   
  
"I'll be all right." But she refused to take the cloak and so instead he wrapped both of them in it, pulling her right up against him and tucking her under his chin for a moment until the shivering stopped. "Better?" She nodded but really didn't want to let go of him. She was very comfortable. Fred cleared his throat by her ear and she poked her head above the edge of the cloak.   
  
"Are you two comfy?"   
  
"Very, thanks." George didn't let his twin's teasing bother him, although Cassie could feel her face get slightly warm.   
  
"Every time I see you two together, it's like you have a permanent sticking charm on you and you've got her stuck right on your side."   
  
"Well, you're just jealous Angelina doesn't cuddle with you." Fred raised an eyebrow.  
  
"If I tried to cuddle Angelina like that, she's punch me." The twins laughed and all three of them started toward the broom shed and then on to the Burrow, Cassie quietly thinking about what Fred had said, especially in light of Molly's earlier comments. She felt rather self-conscious. Maybe she was being a little too . . . agreeable. Maybe she should . . . punch George occasionally. After all, her mum had always warned her not to always go along with a boy just because she liked him. She needed to stay independent and be her own self. She thought hard about how she had behaved around him lately. She had never done anything she didn't feel like doing just because he asked her to. Before they got into the house, Cassie's mind was made up. She didn't have a long time with George and she intended to make the time they did have as nice as possible. And if she needed to punch him, then she would. But so far, he had been wonderful and she didn't want to spend time feeling guilty about what she was doing to set back any sort of feminist movement. If she wanted to cuddle with him, she would. Well, she thought, within reason. So, with a lighter heart, she stepped into the warm kitchen, feeling the pins and needles of thawing digits start almost immediately.   
  
Once inside the house, they got busy making some hot cocoa, setting out biscuits, milk, and whipped cream as the water heated quickly over the fire. Cassie finally felt warm by the time the cocoa was ready and Fred started pouring it into large mugs. She took off her cloak, hanging it over the back of her chair. George picked it up. "I'll just take this upstairs for you, okay?" She nodded, wrapping her hands around the thick stoneware and letting the warmth thaw the last cold off her hands. She picked up a biscuit, biting into the rich treat with pleasure.   
  
"It looks like Mum left out some of her favorite chocolates. These are really wonderful. Would you like one?"   
  
"Thanks. Are you sure she won't mind?"  
  
"No, as long as we only have one each." Fred picked one off the small plate on the counter and Cassie picked another. Wizards really knew their chocolates. And they seemed to eat it without any fear of calories or fat content. Lucky them! The chocolate had an interesting sort of mint center although she crinkled her nose a bit at the after-taste. Fred was watching her carefully, almost too carefully. Cassie suddenly realized that despite his extremely innocent expression, she had just been had. She remembered Harry's warning too late, the words "Never eat anything the twins give you" echoing in her head. She waited with baited breath and narrowed eyes to see what would happen.   
  
At first, nothing, and she wondered if she was being too suspicious. But then, she felt a strange heaviness of her head, like her neck could not support the weight any longer and then there was an itchy sort of ache on the top her skull. She put her hand up to her head and gasped in shock. She had something growing there, growing very fast. She scowled at Fred, who did not look intimidated, but instead grinned. "They worked! Wonderful!"  
  
She tried to say, "What have you turned me into?" but her voice came out very strange sounding, like she had a really bad cold and her nose felt strange. She blinked. There was some sort of flashing light in the room now, making it hard to see Fred clearly across the table. She realized with a sudden horror that it was her nose that was blinking and despite everything, she wanted to laugh. He had turned her into Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer. "I have got to see this." It still sounded strange, but he got the idea and pulled mirror out of his back pocket, apparently having been prepared for this sort of reaction. She gasped as she saw her face. The nose was bright red and blinking and she had antlers which looked strange growing out of her curly hair. She did laugh, then. It really was remarkably clever.   
  
George came down the steps at that moment and from his angry yell, she knew he had not been in on the joke. When she turned to him, embarrassed, his expression was one of complete shock and amazement. Fred was still grinning broadly.   
  
"It worked! It worked even better than we hoped!" George's lips pursed.  
  
"You promised me you would not use her as a guinea pig!"  
  
"But there was no one else available. No one else is, uh, trusting enough to eat any of our candy." Cassie had the distinct impression that he was going to say stupid but had stopped himself at the last moment. She had been stupid. She had trusted Fred. She deserved to be a reindeer. As she suspected would happen though, a few moments later the heaviness and itching on her head went away and the blinking of her nose subsided. But even when she started helping get dinner an hour later, Molly looked at her strangely.   
  
"Did you bang your nose, dear? It looks rather red."  
  
"I think it's just the cold from earlier," Cassie lied, but she noticed that Fred was scribbling something down in a notebook and she imagined it was probably a note that the redness in the nose did not disappear quickly enough.   
  
By the time Arthur arrived home from the Ministry, dinner had been prepared and the table set. Everyone sat down to a dinner of bangers and mash and they ate quietly as Arthur filled the others in on the rest of the afternoon.   
  
"Sometime around 4:00 this afternoon all the Aurors drifted back into the office. Kingsley came down and told me that most of them had figured out it was a setup early on although they had had to stay the entire time. There was no evidence of Death Eaters at all and none showed up. He told me to tell you, Fred and George, that you can go back to the shop tomorrow. The reversal of the evacuation order will be in the Daily Prophet in the morning. I guess the article will apologize for the bad information and say that the Ministry hopes the shops won't suffer too much from loss of revenue." Fred scowled. Cassie knew that it probably was going to make a difference to them, even assuming customers were willing to come back where there was still fear of a Death Eater attack. It was terribly unfair to shop owners to use them and their businesses as pawns in this strange game of trying to arrest people who were completely innocent of any crime at all. It was disgusting.  
  
"So, Dad, do you really think they did all that just to lure Order members out into the open like we suspected?"   
  
"I'm pretty sure. I just wish . . ." He didn't finish his sentence though, because the fireplace flared green and everyone turned to look. Cassie had to look around George and when she did her eyes grew wide and she had to force her mouth closed. So, this is what fire-talking looked like on the other side of things. There was a head in the fire, literally in the fire. The flames were burning around it but it seemed unfazed. It was Tonks, Cassie recognized her now, and she was speaking earnestly to Arthur. Once she got over the complete shock of seeing a bodiless head conversing from the middle of a burning fire, she started to listen to what Tonks' head was saying and she realized rather quickly that it wasn't good news.   
  
"We're not really sure what to do. Remus is there but he can't apparate out, obviously. I think Albus is going to have him portkey out but we don't know for sure where -"  
  
"Well, there's no question. He'll have to come here. The wards are strong enough that he can stay here undetected." Molly stood up and started clearing off the dishes. Cassie hopped up, too, although she would have preferred to have continued staring at the head in the fire.   
  
"Oh, Molly, that's extremely generous of you, but -"  
  
"No. I won't hear any arguments. This is the only suitable place. We've got the room, certainly. It will be absolutely no problem. Now, dear, did you want anything to eat? We just had something easy for dinner, but I've fixed a lovely apple tart for dessert."  
  
"Thank you, but no. I must go and alert other people to the situation." The head disappeared and Cassie imagined Tonks, pulling a soot-blackened head out of the fireplace in some distant location and smiled to herself remembering when George did a similar thing. Everyone else sat at the table looking around at each other with obvious worry in their faces.   
  
"Where's Remus now?"  
  
"He's still at Headquarters, Cassie." George informed her, the furrow on his forehead growing deeper as he thought more and more about the situation. "Tonks said that they were fairly sure Headquarters has been compromised somehow. We'll probably have to abandon it, at least temporarily." He looked up at her with a dawning comprehension. "But for the first time, I really think I may have some idea why Blackman why have wanted to put your Prime Minister under Imperious. He, apparently, is searching for Grimmauld Place. The question though, at least for me, is why?"


	51. One Conspirator Identified

Chapter 51  
One Conspirator Identified  
  
Cassie looked at George in complete confusion. "What? I don't understand. How would putting the Prime Minister under the Imperious curse possibly help Blackman find Grimmauld Place?"   
  
"Yeah," Fred echoed right behind Cassie. "How?"   
  
George raised his eyebrows. "Didn't you two listen to what Tonks just said?"   
  
Cassie shook her head while Fred just looked sheepish. "I was too busy paying attention to the fact that there was an actual head in your fire to listen to anything she said until the very end."  
  
"I can understand that I guess, but what's your excuse?" George looked at Fred.   
  
"Uh, would you believe me if I told you I was thinking about how to improve the Rudolpho's?"   
  
"Yeah. I'd believe that and it actually wouldn't surprise me at all." Arthur wasn't listening to the three of them talk but Cassie noticed out of the corner of her eye as he grabbed his cloak off the hook by the door and threw it on. He disapparated quickly and Cassie turned her attention back to George, thinking that she would have to ask George where his dad had gone.   
  
"Tonks said that Blackman and Sootspinner were in with the Prime Minister this afternoon for at least an hour. After they left, the Prime Minister called in various department heads for short meetings. He dealt especially with the Home Office and the military people. She said she overheard comments by several of the people as they left the office and they were really confused. Your Dad, Cassie, was worried, too. In fact, I think that's where my dad just went. To talk to yours."   
  
"I still don't understand how this all . . . has to do with Remus."   
  
"He's using Muggle police to track it down. He's got wizards working with Muggle policeman . . . all on the pretext of looking for terrorists. I still can't believe none of this penetrated either of your brains . . . but, okay. She said that he knows the general area for Headquarters and that they are doing a house to house search, starting tomorrow. If they get close, Remus will have to get out quickly, that's when Mum said he'd have to come here."   
  
"I heard that part."   
  
"Well, that's about it, then. Apparently Sootspinner and Blackman are telling the Prime Minister to do this."   
  
"But why do they want Headquarters? I mean, no offense, but isn't it just a building?"  
  
"Well, yeah. Remember? That's what I asked at the beginning of this little conversation."  
  
"Oh, yeah. I forgot." Cassie was a little embarrassed.   
  
"I mean, I don't know what Blackman wants, really. And the fact the Aurors are involved. . . . it's all just very confusing."  
  
"The Aurors?"   
  
"Sootspinner. He's in charge of the Aurors right now, remember?"  
  
Cassie stared at George for a minute. "So they're working together?"   
  
"Apparently."   
  
"I don't suppose you have a picture of him?"   
  
"No. I . . ." George looked at her with a sideways glance. "Do you think you may have seen him there?"   
  
"Maybe. I don't know. It's worth trying. He's not a Death Eater, is he?"  
  
"Of course not! Why would the Ministry put a Death Eater in as head of the group that's supposed to be fighting them?"   
  
"Again, no offense, but I really wouldn't put it past them."   
  
George laughed. "You could be right. I'll have Dad dig you up a picture somewhere. I'm sure there's one around."   
  
Fred shook his head in obvious confusion. "But they'll never actually find Headquarters. They can't. It's Fidelius Charmed and everything. And Dumbledore's the Secret Keeper."  
  
"If you ask me," Cassie said, looking very seriously at the two of them, "then you may as well paint a big target on the building with a neon sign saying - 'Wizards here.' Those Fidelius charms are worthless."   
  
"Well, that's not true. They're impenetrable."   
  
"Ha!" She would have said more but Molly, who had apparently been doing something in the other room, came bustling in and Cassie didn't pursue the subject.   
  
Cassie and the twins helped Molly clean up after dinner even though all of them were lost in their own thoughts. They then went out into the living room to wait for Arthur to come back. Cassie was very nervous about her dad. It didn't sound like he was in immediate danger, but she knew that Blackman was keeping a close eye on him, and if he did anything suspicious, he could easily have him killed. This was not a comforting thought. If someone had asked Cassie later what she had done that evening, she honestly did not think she could have said. They talked, but it was mostly small talk about events at the store and preparations for Christmas. Many times they just sat in silence, listening for Arthur's return. It was at least an hour before Cassie heard the now familiar pop in the kitchen and everyone got up to greet Arthur who looked tired and worried. Cassie helped Molly serve up the apple tart and coffee while Arthur filled them in on what he had learned.  
  
"Well, it doesn't look good. I went first to see what Andrew had to say. He really didn't know much more than Tonks told us, although I could tell he was worried, too. He is also worried that this may cause internal problems in the government because some are questioning whether he is still fit to lead."   
  
"I don't suppose Mr. Robinson has any idea how the Muggle police are supposed to find a Fidelius charmed house, does he?"   
  
"Obviously not, but Albus thinks he knows."   
  
"When did you talk to Albus?" Molly asked, surprised.   
  
"Right after I left Andrew and Rebecca. Sometimes I hate those blasted wards. Had to walk all the way in from the gate and then, of course, had to sneak into the castle and find Albus and it was not easy. There are Aurors all over that place. It would make me feel relieved about Ginny and Ron's safety, but I don't trust them. They're there to arrest Albus and Remus, not to watch out for the students."   
  
"Oh, speaking of Aurors, Cassie wants to see a picture of Sootspinner." Arthur's gaze sharpened on her immediately.   
  
"Yes. Yes. Of course."   
  
"So, what's Dumbledore's theory?" George gestured impatiently at his father.   
  
Arthur just shrugged. "I don't know. He's supposed to come in the morning to talk about it."   
  
"Do you think they're trying to arrest Dumbledore so they can force him to give up the secret?"  
  
Arthur's brow crinkled at Fred's question. "I would say that was a distinct possibility except that they don't know that he's the secret keeper."  
  
"But they have to suspect. I mean, it would be the obvious choice."  
  
"Maybe. Maybe. It would make sense, I guess." There was nothing else to really say after that and Cassie went to bed only a few minutes later feeling inestimably weary.   
  
Unfortunately, this did not translate to getting to sleep, however. Cassie lay awake for a very long while as her mind went over the evening's events again and again.   
  
Cassie awoke with her alarm clock the next morning. She was tired as she hadn't slept well and considered having a lie-in. She was sure Molly wouldn't mind. But then she remembered that Arthur had said Professor Dumbledore was coming this morning, so she pulled herself out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. Cassie rubbed her eyes blearily as she pushed the half-open door wide and blinked frantically at the sudden intrusion of light onto her dark-adjusted pupils. Her eyes teared up and she closed her eyes instantly, trying to crack open one eye.   
  
"Good morning, sleepyhead," said a very amused masculine voice.   
  
Cassie was not similarly amused. "The lights, the lights." She hoped he was decent, not that she could tell. But instead of dimming the lights in consideration of her pain, he just laughed again. She cracked open her eye again and this time, allowed the pupil to adjust to the light of the lamps. When she finally could, she opened her other eye and focused on his grinning face. He was smiling at her and despite her frustration at his unwillingness to dim the lamps, she felt her mouth curving into a matching grin. "You didn't shut the door."   
  
"Well, I expected Fred to come down and I needed to let the steam out from my shower. Sorry." He'd already showered? Despite the thought that she definitely should not be doing this, she felt her eyes drop down from his face and encountered bare chest. Ah. She willed her eyes back to his face but they did not obey, rather only traced the lines of muscles on his chest down to the towel that was fastened around his waist. He noted her scrutiny and laughed again. "I'm almost done, but you're welcome to use the sink, if you need to." He nodded at her toothbrush in explanation. She looked at his face again and saw for the first time that he had a bit of shaving cream on one cheek and was holding a razor in one hand.   
  
"Okay." She wet her toothbrush under the faucet and carefully applied toothpaste, trying not to let her hand shake as she stealthily studied him in the mirror. He was carefully pulling the razor over his face and she glanced back at her toothbrush before he met her eyes. "I would have thought you would have had some more sophisticated way of shaving than a regular safety razor."   
  
"Well, it's possible to use magic, but if you really want a nice smooth shave, actual blades work best." She nodded, and put her toothbrush in her mouth. "I'm done, love, I'll let you have your privacy." And he walked out of the bathroom, shutting the door firmly behind himself. She brushed her teeth quickly, her heart pounding rapidly at what had just happened. It was not possible that she had just seen him in a towel, was it? Was she dreaming? She pinched herself quickly. No, she was definitely awake. She nodded to herself, admitting that he looked pretty good wearing only a towel. She blushed at her own daring and shook her head, trying to concentrate on brushing her teeth.   
  
Back in her room, she dressed quickly and ran a comb through her hair, taking a deep breath as she started down the stairs. She could hear Molly downstairs but nothing else. When she reached the kitchen, though, Arthur was sitting at the table and three coffee cups were arranged on its surface. She knew without asking that Professor Dumbledore had come and gone. She felt bad for missing him. She tried to read on Arthur's face the way the discussion had gone, but his face was carefully blank. Molly was standing at the stove and Cassie joined her. They smiled at each other, speechlessly dividing the work along what were quickly becoming familiar lines. They prepared bacon, eggs, grilled tomatoes, toast, and marmalade, with pumpkin juice and more hot coffee. A few minutes later, Cassie heard the heavy tramping of the twins' feet on the stairs. She turned to greet them and immediately remembered how George's shoulders and chest had looked without his shirt. She felt the heat of a very rosy blush and noticed George too was blushing lightly. Fred had a puzzled and suspicious look on his face as he glanced between the two. Cassie was relieved that neither Arthur nor Molly seemed to notice the blushes, which came and went throughout breakfast. After everyone was done eating, Arthur took a deep breath.   
  
"I'm almost dreading showing you this. But here." He handed a surprised Cassie a small photograph. It was moving, but not much and she could clearly see the face of the wizard in the snapshot. She studied it carefully but didn't have any doubts. She had seen the face before, one dark night exactly two weeks ago last night. There was no question about it. She nodded faintly and the four other occupants of the kitchen caught their collective breath.   
  
"Well, that is certainly interesting. I will get the news to Dumbledore today, I hope."   
  
"Is that Sootspinner?" Everybody nodded and Cassie could feel the tension in the room as she looked at the photo again. "I remember him so clearly. He was sitting next to the one empty chair in the room. He was wearing dark green robes, I think, with black piping. Or at least that's what I remember." Arthur was nodding.   
  
"Yes. He likes green. He thinks it brings out the color of his eyes. Most of his robes are a forest green. Which is interesting, because I think he was in Ravenclaw at school, not Slytherin. Well, thank you, Cassie. This might really help." Ten minutes later, all three men were ready to disapparate, Cassie rather shyly kissing George on the cheek and then Fred for good measure. Fred looked between her and George again, obvious questions in his eyes. But then they were gone and Cassie didn't envy George today, sure that he would get the third degree all morning long.   
  
After the men had left for work, Cassie helped Molly clean up and then she settled down in front of the fire to read. She had only been reading a short time when she heard a voice. Cassie looked up to again see Tonks' head in the fire, let out a little yelp of surprise, and went to fetch Molly from the other room. Molly followed her in and Cassie couldn't help but wonder what was wrong now. Judging by the look on Tonks' face, it was definitely not a social call.   
  
"The police have moved faster than we imagined they possibly could. Their information was obviously very good. They're on the street now, and the wizards with them have started casting the spells Albus believes will expose the house. Remus has got to get out now. I think Albus is going to have him portkey out but we don't know for sure -"  
  
"I told you last night that he should come here. And I meant it."   
  
"Thank you, Molly. But I actually am here for another reason. We have no way to notify Remus that he has got to get out. The Floo network is being watched too carefully. We had planned on Albus just apparating there and telling him personally that the time had come to leave but that won't work now. What we really need is someone who can get right into the house."   
  
"I don't understand - what can I do to help you?"  
  
"Not you, Molly. Cassie," and Tonks' eyes searched her out in the room, "your portkey will take you directly into the house. Then you and Remus can get out together. We hate to involve you, but we just don't have any choice." Cassie felt a sudden onset of nerves in her stomach. She didn't trust the Fidelius Charm on the house at all but if Remus was there she couldn't just leave him to the kind mercies of the police and the Ministry wizards they had with them. Molly was shaking her head.  
  
"No. There has to be some other way. Another portkey can be set up that someone else can use . . ."  
  
"That would be ideal, but it's just not possible. It takes some time to get a portkey made that can pass through wards that strong and time is one thing we do not have."  
  
"I'll go. I'll go immediately." Cassie didn't even wait for either of them to acknowledge her statement before she walked into the kitchen to grab the ugly little statue. Molly followed her and just before she touched it, she heard her voice tell her to take care of herself and Remus and to come back as soon as possible. Then the now too-familiar tugging vibrated through her body and it was only a moment later that she opened her eyes in the hallway of #12 Grimmauld Place. The house was quiet, almost too quiet, and she had the sudden thought that if Remus had already left, she was stuck here with no options. Panic filled her throat and she tried to cry out for him, but couldn't get out any noise. "Calm down," she told herself. "They aren't just going to leave you here. And he's probably still here." This time, when she called out for him, she heard an answering yell from another part of the house.   
  
Remus found her in the hallway a few moments later and to say he looked surprised would have been a distinct understatement. "Cassie! What the hell are you doing here? Is there a problem? What's happened at the Burrow?"  
  
She shook her head. "There's nothing wrong at the Burrow. There's something wrong here. You've got to get out immediately!"  
  
"What? Why?" Remus looked very puzzled, like he expected her to start laughing any moment and say it was just a joke.   
  
"Tonks said that the police are already on this street and that the wizards are casting the spells to dissolve the wards."  
  
"That's impossible!"  
  
"Honestly, Remus. She showed up in the fire at the Burrow just a few minutes ago. She said that they couldn't notify you because no one could come to the house except for me. Something about my being able to come right into the house . . ."  
  
"Yes, yes. Okay. Well, I've got the papers upstairs. Come on, Cassie. If they're that close, we have no time to waste." Cassie had no idea what papers he was talking about but followed him up to a bedroom on the second level where there was a large pile of boxes. "I was planning on sitting on these to let the portkey take them as well. And I guess that will still work with the two of us. You better hold on to that handle there." Cassie looked at the pile of boxes. They were plain looking cardboard file holders like people used when they were moving offices, but they had cut-out handles on the side. "Uh, I guess before I do this portkey, you better tell me where we're supposed to go."   
  
"The Burrow. Molly insisted."   
  
"Okay." He picked up a picture frame, said something while waving his wand, and it glowed bright blue for a brief second. He then climbed onto the pile of boxes himself and sat down next to Cassie. "This feels vaguely familiar." She laughed, but didn't even have time to finish before the portkey activated and she, Remus, and the boxes disappeared from Grimmauld Place and reformed themselves in the quiet kitchen of the Burrow.   
  
Molly apparently heard their landing because she came rushing in a second later. "Oh, thank goodness. You've arrived safely." She hugged both Cassie and Remus in the sort of smothering hugs she was known for and then ran back out into the living room. "I've got to let Tonks know that the package has arrived."  
  
"What package?" Cassie asked Remus when Molly had rushed out the kitchen door.  
  
"I think she means us. If they're watching the Floo network, which I can only imagine they are, she can't very well tell her that I'm here. That would be a complete red flag and Aurors would certainly be here within the hour."   
  
"Tonks said something about the Floo network."   
  
"Yes. It would have been dangerous enough for her to even come here but . . . you said that the police had already found Grimmauld Place?"   
  
"Well, that's what Tonks said, although she didn't really say anything else about it that I understood." Molly came back into the room.   
  
"I told her. She was very relieved. Are you hungry, can I get you some breakfast or anything?"  
  
"No, no. I'm fine. Do you understand what Tonks was saying about the police already finding the house?"   
  
"That's all I really know, Remus. She said that they would be at the house in a matter of only a few minutes."  
  
"I just don't understand this at all. Since when have wizards worked with Muggle policeman? Why are the Ministry officials so determined to find Grimmauld Place? I still don't even understand why I was set up. I feel disconnected, out of sorts, like I've been asleep for a hundred years and now I'm awake and everything has changed." Molly was clucking her tongue in sympathy.   
  
"Yes, well. I'm sure we'll have answers soon enough. But, in the meantime, I'm putting you into Percy's old room while you're here. Cassie, can you show him?" Cassie nodded. "I'm going to go talk to Arthur for a minute. And I think I'd better go in person." Neither of them said anything as with a quiet pop she left.   
  
"Arthur thinks all this has something to do with the meeting I witnessed."  
  
"What!!!" Remus turned his head to her so fast that she thought he may have broken his neck.   
  
"The head of the Aurors, Sootspinner, he was one of the men at the meeting. They finally thought to show me a picture of him and I definitely recognized him." Remus stared at her for a long moment and Cassie shifted uncomfortably on her feet. It was the truth. He had definitely been there. She could even remember where he was sitting when that door had opened. "It's true. I wouldn't make something like that up."   
  
"No . . . no. Of course not, I just . . . I've known him for years. I always liked him." Remus looked away from Cassie and she wished with all her heart that she was mistaken. But she knew she wasn't.  
  
"I'm sorry, Remus." He didn't answer for a long moment.   
  
"Yes. Well, you have nothing to apologize for." He smiled rather wanly. "You'd better show me to the room. I'd like to get these up there so they don't get in Molly's way." Cassie showed him to Percy's room, struck again as she opened the door for him at how impersonal it was. Remus stood in the doorway and directed the boxes as they floated up the stairs and into the room, where he stacked them neatly on the empty desk. "So, Cassie, how are you settling in here at the Burrow?"   
  
"Fine. It's fun here. Molly is very nice. Everyone else is very busy. How is everyone at school?" Remus gave her that small sad smile again.   
  
"I wouldn't know. I haven't been back."  
  
"But . . . your classes?"  
  
"I daresay they were canceled this week. Either that or Severus is teaching them. I didn't have the option of showing up for them. I would have been arrested on the spot."   
  
"Oh, Remus! I'm sorry! I forgot about that!"  
  
"That's all right. Albus can hide in the school somehow and still have people he trusts relay messages etc. And the portraits keep him informed of what is going on. But as a teacher I don't have that luxury." The last box settled into place on the desk followed almost immediately by a rather battered-looking suitcase that opened itself on the foot of the bed.   
  
Cassie searched around for a different topic of conversation, anxious to get away from these rather sad ones. "Uh, so what's in all these boxes?"  
  
"Paperwork. Every organization, even a secret one, runs on reams of parchment, this is ours. We didn't dare leave it there."   
  
"Will they destroy the house when they find it?"  
  
Remus looked at her for a long moment and Cassie wondered if he had, somewhere along the road, picked up the skill of Legilimency. He kept giving her these very long looks that made her feel completely exposed. "I don't know. They might."   
  
"Did you save the pictures of Sirius, then?"  
  
"No." The answer was so short that Cassie felt embarrassed for having asked. So much for a happier topic of conversation.   
  
"Well, I guess I'll leave you to get settled in." The door closed behind her and she stood staring at it for a long time before she went back downstairs. Molly had come back and was in the kitchen getting lunch.   
  
"I need to tell you, Cassie, thanks for getting Remus. Arthur says that the house has already been broken into. They seem to be looking for something." Cassie didn't answer. She felt like going up to Ginny's room, throwing herself over the bed, and crying. She felt the insistent push of tears in the back of her throat and tried to push them down. Finally, when she thought she could speak without embarrassing herself, she spoke.   
  
"It was easy. I'm glad I could help." Molly glanced back at her over her shoulder.   
  
"Did Remus get settled in all right?"  
  
"I guess so. He said the room was nice and thank you." He hadn't really, but Cassie figured it wouldn't hurt to say so anyway. She moved to the counter next to Molly and started helping her. She had at least three different pans on the stove and was mixing a cake at the moment. "Molly? Aren't only three of us eating lunch?"   
  
Molly looked at her, chagrin obvious in her face. "Yes. But when I'm nervous or upset, I cook. So . . . I'm cooking."   
  
"Okay. What can I do?"   
  
An hour later, Molly, Cassie, and Remus sat down to a very large lunch. Contrary to Cassie's worries, the subject of conversation was light and pleasant. The fact that Grimmauld Place was possibly being searched even now or the fact that Remus was still in hiding from the law were not discussed. Instead, it focused mainly on how the various Weasley children were doing. They spent a long time talking about Bill and Fleur's plans and another long time about Ron and Ginny, particularly about how they were both doing in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Cassie listened with interest to the stories Remus was telling, laughing several times at things that Ron and Harry did to get into trouble. Molly didn't seem to think they were as funny as she did.   
  
The rest of the afternoon passed slowly. Molly kept popping in and out "arranging things" she said and getting things that Remus said he needed. Cassie didn't actually see Remus as he was busy doing something with all of the boxes although she had no idea what. Cassie realized that it was now a week before Christmas and spent some time wrapping the few presents she did have. She had no idea when or how she would get them to her parents and family, but trusted that she would be able to somehow and she wanted to be ready when someone could take them for her. She read a little and even took a short nap. When she eventually went down to see what she could do to help with dinner, Molly was again cooking much more food than even the six of them could eat. This time, though, this seemed to be more intentional, as most of it was put into the refrigerator before Arthur or the boys even arrived at home. Cassie realized with a sudden jolt that tomorrow Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione would be arriving from Hogwarts and thought that maybe Molly was getting some food prepared in advance. She had seen Ron and Harry eat and together with the twins and any other Weasley siblings that happened to drop in, feeding them could be quite a full-time job.   
  
When George and Fred arrived at their usual time, both of them were very surprised to see Remus sitting in the kitchen. George looked thunderstruck when he heard the whole story of how Headquarters had been located so quickly and how Cassie had gone in to rescue Remus. His hand had tightened on hers until it was almost painful before she finally pulled it out of his grip. "George, don't worry now. It was easy. Piece of cake." Remus had laughed at the look on George's face.   
  
"That was nothing compared to the situations she was in at Hogwarts. She's a brave girl. I think she's got nerves of steel." Cassie had shaken her head at that.   
  
"I was always terrified, but what choice did I ever have?"   
  
Remus had met her eyes squarely then and said in his best professor voice. "You have had some choices from the very beginning of this and you've always performed admirably." Cassie had flushed but was very pleased that he thought so.   
  
Dinner was a fairly quiet affair although both George and Fred told Remus, Arthur, and Molly about their success with the new gift certificates and they were all suitably impressed. After dinner, George told Cassie that he had a gift for her and handed her a small corked bottle of clear liquid. "What is this?"  
  
"It's the potion to get the red out of your hair." Cassie grinned and ran upstairs to use it, hopping into the shower and washing it through her hair, praying that George had put the potion together correctly. Looking at herself in the mirror afterward, she smiled. It was good to see her hair blond again. She had gotten extremely used to the red, but was glad to look like herself again. She quickly rolled her hair into the sponge curlers, and then, not wanting to be the object of stares and jeers all night, she tied a thin scarf around her head and managed to cover the majority of them. New Muggle hairstyle indeed!   
  
Sitting quietly on the couch next to George a few minutes later, Cassie listened as Remus, Arthur, and the twins exchanged ideas about what was going on with Headquarters and the Ministry. "We're really fortunate that Cassie saw the meeting, even though it has made her life extremely complicated. If she hadn't, it's hard to know what sort of danger we'd all be in." Arthur beamed at her as he said this, and Cassie smiled faintly. He was right, of course, but she really wished that she had just stayed at George's shop that night and not decided to go exploring.   
  
"And we're also fortunate that we have such a brave girl on our side. She has been beyond spectacular, much better than I ever could have expected when she first arrived at Hogwarts. I can't even count the number of times I was told, by fellow professors as well as other students, how impressed they were at her magical skill. It took me a great deal of self-control not to burst into laughter every time."   
  
"So, she wasn't exaggerating about everyone thinking she was a powerful witch?" Fred asked as George squeezed her hand in pride.   
  
"Not at all!"  
  
"But how did she do it? How did she fake everyone out?"  
  
"I only know about my class, of course. And I tried to avoid making it necessary that she use magic at all. I cast several spells on the students during the classes and lectured them several times. I did use Imperius on her, just so she knew what the Prime Minister was experiencing. And I have to say that surprisingly she managed to resist the curse quite well, better than many students in her class. But she'd have to tell you about the other classes."   
  
"You cast Imperius on the students?"   
  
"Yes. It is allowed, although . . ."  
  
"He did a weak Cruciatus, too, although I deferred having it put on me." They all stared at Remus for a few minutes and he shrugged.   
  
"I can't teach them to defend themselves against something they've never experienced. No one screamed. It was quite weak."   
  
"But we want details," Fred almost whined. "I want to know how you fooled them. I don't care about what Remus did!"   
  
"I told you . . . someone-"  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Someone else did the magic and you pretended it was you. But, again, I want details." Cassie laughed.   
  
"It's true. I don't really know what else to say."   
  
"Come on. You can remember, can't you?"  
  
"I remember, I just . . . well, you realize that it required a lot of sneaking, lying, etc. I wouldn't want any other students to get into trouble." She looked at Remus rather pointedly, but also let her eyes drift over to Molly. Arthur was more laid back, and she supposed that he would be very unlikely to give any of his children trouble over their underhanded behavior when they were trying to help Cassie, or much of anything else, really.   
  
"I'm sure that everything said here tonight," George said in a conspiratorial half whisper, "is completely off the record."   
  
Cassie groaned and thought back to her arrival at Hogwarts two weeks ago. "There's so much to tell, I don't know where to start." But she closed her eyes for a second and leaned her head against the back of the couch. Then she opened them again and looked into five eager faces. "It started immediately, when I was going to my dorm room right after I got there. Harry and Ron carried the trunk into Gryffindor tower, but when we needed to go up to the 6th year girls' dorm, that was the first time we did it. It was Ginny and I, and Hermione assisted. They taught me the spell Locomotor trunk . . . ."


	52. Things Change

Chapter 52  
Things Change  
  
" . . . . So, that was really about it. And just like I told you. But Hermione should get all of the credit. She thought of how it would work." The small group of people was sitting there, looking slightly shocked, staring at the girl who had just calmly recounted the stories of how she had convinced almost everyone at Hogwarts that she was a witch.   
  
"I have to say, dear, those stories are incredible. Very impressive. And I'll be sure to tell Hermione so when she arrives, as well."   
  
"Thank you, Molly. I would appreciate it. She deserves it."   
  
"But-"  
  
"Cassie, we think there might"  
  
"Be something you are omitting." Cassie looked at the twins with a smile. She always loved it when they talked like that. Maybe it should annoy her, but it never did.   
  
"What?"  
  
"Transfiguration. You never told us how you got out"  
  
"of doing the transfiguration for McGonagall after the whole"  
  
"rat to rabbit thing." They finished in tandem and Cassie smiled again although her stomach did a flip-flop. She was hoping she could avoid bringing this up.   
  
"Uh, yeah. Sorry. Maybe another time. I'm really quite tired and it's fairly complicated." George made a big show of getting her a cup of coffee and she sighed, sipping tentatively at the hot beverage. "We used a potion, I guess a pretty rare one, called . . . uh, poly-andry, poly- uh . . . . I've forgotten the name, now."   
  
"Do you mean Polyjuice?" Lupin questioned, his brow furrowed.  
  
"Uh-huh. That was it. Foul goo. I had to drink some with her hair in it and then she-"  
  
"We all know how it works." George interrupted. "How did she get it? It takes a month to make, at least."  
  
"She got it from Professor Dumbledore, she said. He said it was okay, as long as he didn't hear what actually happened with it." Everyone's face lost the pinched look that had appeared with her announcement. "Anyway, well. She went to class pretending to be me and did all the magic. Easy, really. She even used her own wand and everything."  
  
"And you . . . pretended to be her." Cassie nodded. "And you went to her classes?"  
  
"Heavens, no! That would have been a disaster. I just stayed in the common room and read. She does that a lot, you know."  
  
"But she's Head Girl. No one asked any questions, or anything?"  
  
Cassie's mind flashed back quickly to that Thursday a week ago, remembering that no one had bothered her at all except for . . . "No. A couple people said hello and I just answered without calling them anything. I was nervous that someone would, uh, you know think I was Hermione but . . ." Her voice trailed off and despite her best intentions, she could feel the color rising in her face. Sitting here by George, remembering how Ron had thought she was Hermione, was rather difficult. It hadn't been her fault, or Ron's really. She felt George's eyes on her face and she tried to look nonchalant. She decided to get off that topic as soon as possible. "Anyway, she also went to Ginny's Ancient Runes class. So, I stayed her for about four hours, I think and she stayed me and it worked out and then I went to Charms. And it was all just fine. Just fine."   
  
"That was certainly a creative solution to the problem." Cassie nodded again. "I'm impressed." Lupin fiddled with the coffee cup he held in his hand as he watched her. "Very impressed."   
  
"It was fun, really. Except for drinking the potion. That was nasty." To Cassie's great relief, she had satisfied their curiosity and the conversation turned to other topics. Finally, Arthur said he was tired and as if it was a sign that everyone had been waiting for, within a few minutes people were heading up the stairs. George kissed Cassie gently under the watchful eyes of his mother and headed up to his room. Cassie was halfway up the second flight when she realized she was thirsty. She paused and tried to remember if there was a cup or anything in the bathroom but she was pretty sure there wasn't. She'd have to go back down to the kitchen and get one. Maybe she could keep it in Ginny's room for the future. Then she got down to the dark kitchen and swore mildly under her breath. Her matches and her lighter were upstairs as was her torch. Usually when she was wandering at night, she started in the bedroom, so it was easy to remember to grab something. She stood quietly for a moment, trying to remember where the cups were so she could negotiate her way to the cupboard in the dark without making a big commotion. She remembered the right cupboard and opened it, grabbed a cup and turned on the faucet. She was concentrating so hard on the water that she missed the small noise behind her until she was caught from behind, a hand over her mouth, and a voice in her ear.   
  
"I wondered what had happened to you."   
  
"I swear, George. Are you trying to kill me?" Cassie stood there, breathing hard, trying to slow the racing of her heart.   
  
"No, that's really not what I had in mind." She smiled down into the sink. His voice had that slightly husky quality to it that raised goosebumps on her arms. She knew what he wanted and why he had realized that she hadn't made it upstairs. Not that she would let him know that, of course.   
  
"Well, then, don't sneak up behind me in a dark room."  
  
"Then don't be standing in a dark room looking particularly cute."   
  
"I couldn't light the lamps. I left my matches upstairs." George flicked his wand at one of them and it lit immediately, throwing some areas of the room into deep shadow, but illuminating the small area where they were standing, Cassie now facing him. "Thanks. I just needed a drink of water before bed. And I wasn't trying to look particularly cute. I was just standing here."   
  
"Hmm. You didn't let me see your hair."   
  
"What?"   
  
"Your hair. It's blond again, isn't it?"   
  
"Yes, but it's all up now. You can see it tomorrow."   
  
"I want to see it now." Cassie looked at him askance.   
  
"Tough. Last time you saw it in curlers, you screamed and said it looked horrible."  
  
"I never said that!"  
  
"Close enough. You're out of luck tonight."  
  
"I'm starting to get that impression . . . but-" He suddenly picked her up and put her up on the counter so that their faces were close to level. "I can be very persuasive."   
  
"Let me down. I feel ridiculous up here." He just shook his head and reached for the scarf. "Leave that alone. Even if you saw it in the curlers, I don't think you could tell the- Dang it, George. Please, let me - Oh, you're in big trouble now, mister."   
  
"Yeah, I'm scared." He stuffed the scarf into his pocket. Cassie was torn between slapping his face and kissing him. He was wearing an extremely self-satisfied grin as he examined her head and Cassie was very embarrassed. "What's the point of these things again?"  
  
"To curl it. The hair dries in this shape and it . . . No! Stop! I mean it!" She did her best to sound very intimidating, but her laugh ruined the entire mood. His nimble fingers had undone one of the curlers and pulled it out of her hair. He didn't answer her or anything, just moved onto the next curler. "George!"   
  
"Shhh. You'll wake up the entire house. You're right. These do work pretty well. It's already curly." He now had five in his left hand with his right hand busily undoing the next one. He put the six down and got to work with both hands. Cassie stopped protesting after about 10. There was no point. They were all going to have be redone tonight as it was. Besides, he wasn't listening to her protests anyway. His weight was against her knees and he was looking determinedly at her hair. She sat quietly and stared straight ahead which meant she was basically concentrating on his ear. It was a very nice ear and she looked with some interest at the way his hair curled around it. Her attention was caught by his exclamation of triumph as he pulled the last curler from behind her head. "There! Much better." His big hands moved through the semi-dry curls and she could feel the strands curl around his fingers.   
  
"Are you happy now?"   
  
"Very. You no longer smell like Ginny and you no longer look like her either."   
  
"Ah." She would have said more but his mouth unerringly found hers and she completely forgot what smart comment she was going to make. His kiss was hot and she quickly realized that his emotions were close to the surface. The gentle way he usually kissed her was not in evidence tonight. No. He pulled his mouth away and looked down at her, fire practically dancing behind his eyes. Neither of them said anything for a minute. And then he shifted her knees to the side so that his weight was on the counter and he was even closer to her mouth. She saw his eyes flare slightly and then he was kissing her again. His hands were on her shoulders, holding her still. Not that she had any interest in moving. This counter was surprisingly comfortable. He pulled away again and they both breathed raggedly. He sat down in one of the chairs at the table and looked up at her.   
  
"Do you have any idea what you are doing to me?" She nodded rather hesitantly, wanting to say that he was doing the same thing to her, but it probably wasn't the truth. After all, he had more experience, knew what he was missing. She didn't. She slipped down from the counter and debated whether to sit down across from him or just to go upstairs. In a way, she felt like his distance from her was wordlessly giving her a chance to retreat if she wanted to. She should. But, oh, she didn't want to. She wanted to stay. So, with a courage she didn't know she possessed, she walked over to him once again. His arms slipped around her waist and he leaned his head against her tummy. She bent down and kissed the top of his head. His low rumble of laughter tickled her skin and she did it again to get the same reaction. "You are so absolutely . . . I was sitting there tonight while you were telling those stories about Hogwarts, and I . . I just wanted to . . . I don't know what exactly. I wanted to absorb you into myself. You're wonderful. That's the word that keeps coming to mind."   
  
"I am not. I didn't do anything extraordinary, really." He nodded and this time, she was the one who laughed.   
  
"You weren't telling the truth about the Polyjuice, though. Something did happen when you were Hermione and she was you. I could tell by the way you flushed when we asked you."  
  
"No. Nothing happened." But then his eyes met hers and she felt the color rise in her cheeks again. Maybe the dim light in the room would keep him from noticing. But she wasn't that lucky.   
  
"Come on, spill it. I'd hate to have to tickle it out of you."   
  
"Ve have vays of making you talk? Huh?" She gave her best Colonel Klink imitation from Hogan's Heroes but George just look confused.   
  
"What?"   
  
"Never mind. Fine. Fine. Ron . . . missed the planning meeting Thursday morning and when he didn't see Hermione in class . . . well, he figured that she was upset over her parents and everything, and, well . . . he wanted to make sure she was all right and, uh, comfort her. You know." George was watching her carefully, now. "And, uh, he found her, well, me of course although he didn't know it was me, in the commons room with people around and I tried to, um, convince him that she, uh, I was fine and to go back to class, but he . . . well, he decided that maybe a little private time would be nice and, um, . . . er, well, it was getting a little embarrassing. Everyone was looking and I tried to stop him, but he just wouldn't listen. He's rather, uh, stubborn, in case you haven't noticed."   
  
"So, Ron kissed you?" The question was asked innocuously enough, but Cassie had a feeling that if Ron had been sitting there, George would have punched him in the nose.   
  
"No. I mean, he was kissing me, but he didn't kiss me." George raised an eyebrow questioningly. "On the lips. He was just kissing my face and neck and hands and stuff. But of course, he didn't know it was me, George. You do understand that, right?"   
  
"I understand. I'm not stupid."   
  
"I never said you were stupid!"   
  
"So, what happened . . . eventually?"   
  
"Um, well, I told him that we should go up into his room so that we could be alone." She said this very quietly, wishing she could have some way to say that where it didn't sound quite so . . . incriminating.   
  
"Yes. And . . ."  
  
"You're the one who asked, remember? So don't blame me if you don't like what you're hearing." She glanced at the steps and was tempted to make a run for it but knew he could catch her in 2-3 strides. "We went up a few steps where we would be out of view of the rest of the common room, and I - I told him. He wasn't happy. He ran screaming down the stairs and out of the common room, and then he went to bed and I didn't see him again when I was Hermione." She omitted the entire part about lunch and the hand-holding. It was probably better that George not hear about what she and Ron had done when their identities really were known, or George might still punch him in the nose, given half a chance. "It was actually, um, sort of funny."   
  
"Yeah. I'm laughing all right." She grimaced slightly. He was definitely not amused. He glanced up at her. "Sorry. I don't mean to sound so . . . possessive. I'm not normally like this, uh, that. It's just . . . the thought of you kissing someone else just sets my teeth on edge."   
  
"I'm sorry, too. We didn't kiss, really." His face crinkled into a smile.   
  
"So you didn't succumb to the famous Weasley charm?"   
  
"Oh, I wouldn't say that." And this time, when she bent over to kiss him, it wasn't the top of his head that she kissed. After a few minutes, her back started to hurt and she tried to think how she could get more comfortable. He solved her problem by pulling her down onto his lap and she relaxed in his arms.   
  
"Hm, hm. Hello." The throat clearing was soft but in the complete silence of the kitchen it sounded like a gun shot. Cassie's head whipped around and her eyes widened at the sight of Remus standing on the bottom step. She did a quick mental run-down of what she looked like. She was sitting on George's lap, her hair was beyond mussed, all the curlers were scattered over the surface of the counter, and any makeup she had once had on was now missing in action. She hopped up, trying to look graceful and not succeeding very well. She looked back at George who had met Remus' eyes unflinchingly and then she whispered a hasty good-night and ran up the steps, not stopping until she reached the quiet darkness of Ginny's bedroom. Once there, she grabbed her toothbrush and toothpaste and almost ran down the hallway. She just wanted to go to bed and get that image of Remus staring at them out of her mind. After she returned to the bedroom she quickly changed into George's shirt and climbed into bed. Then, wanting to have some connection with him, she picked up her charmed Falcons sticker and held it. It was a long time before the answering warmth filled her palm but when it did, she smiled and finally allowed herself to sleep.   
  
She was awake before the alarm the next day, anxious at what was going to happen. She thought that Remus might possibly tell Molly and Arthur what had happened and Molly might be even angrier with her than she already was. She already thought that Cassie was a bad influence on George. Cassie didn't even want to think about what would happen if her worst fears were confirmed. She may forbid them to see each other, may even force George to go live somewhere else until she left the house permanently. Cassie stepped reluctantly out into the hall a moment later, hoping to check the status of the bathroom. She didn't want a repeat of the towel incident, did she? Well, all right. She'd admit that parts of that had actually been very nice but after last night, she was trying to avoid being found in anymore embarrassing situations. As she glanced toward the hall toward the bathroom, though, her view was blocked by a red-headed boy who was standing quite determinedly by her door, waiting for her. He was already dressed and looked ready for the day.   
  
"Hi." She couldn't believe this. She looked horrible, her hair had "gone insane in the night and was sticking up all over her head. She could feel it. Her eyes were dry and she would have bet money that they were red-rimmed and bloodshot. She wanted to brush her teeth before she had any in-depth conversations but that obviously wasn't going to happen.   
  
"Hi, yourself." George held out her scarf from last night and inside were all of the curlers that he had taken out of her hair. "I thought you might want these back." Cassie took them, greatly relieved that she wouldn't have to explain to Molly why her hair curlers were all over her kitchen counters.   
  
"Thanks. I was worried that they might still have been down there . . ." She let her voice trail off as the remembrance of how embarrassed she had been the night before came flooding back into her conscious mind. "I'm sorry, George!"  
  
"You have nothing to be sorry about. Last night was . . . well, I don't know the right word, but I loved it." He reached out carefully and stroked her cheek. "I hope you don't regret what happened. I love to kiss you and don't want you to ever wish I didn't." She allowed him to pull him into his arms and she sighed in relief when his arms went around her and she could bury her face in his chest. They stood in silence for a few minutes, his hand running up and down her back in the sort of classic comforting movement and she relaxed more into his embrace.   
  
"What did Remus say after I left?" She hated to ask, but on the other hand, she wanted to know so that she could deal with any aftershocks.   
  
"Yeah. Well, he chewed my . . . . He really laid down the law." Cassie pulled back a little bit and looked up into his face. "That's right. Heaped all the blame for the fate of the world on my head and threatened me with serious bodily harm if I ever did anything to hurt you." Cassie chuckled dryly as she turned her face into his shirt "I'm glad you think it's funny. He could definitely cause me grievous injury if he wanted to. So I assured him that I would never hurt you or let anyone else hurt you either."   
  
"Do you think he hates me now?"   
  
"No, he definitely does not hate you. Didn't you hear me? He heaped all the blame for the entire relationship squarely on my head. Told me that since your dad wasn't here to make sure I behaved myself that he would do it for me and that he would be keeping a very close eye on me."   
  
"Oh, George, I'm sorry." They both stood there for another few minutes, arms around each other, each unwilling to let the other go. But finally, she decided that she needed to be down helping Molly so she reluctantly pulled away. "I guess I better go downstairs."   
  
"Things are just going to get crazier after everyone gets here this afternoon. I don't know how much we'll be able to be alone." Cassie nodded. As excited as she was about everybody's arrival from Hogwarts today, she realized that the close quarters would pretty much guarantee that she and George would not be alone together. Of course, maybe she should be grateful for that, but she knew she wasn't.   
"I know. But they're all going to want private time, so maybe we can take ours at the same time they do." George nodded.   
  
"That might work. I guess we'll just have to wait and see." He kissed her once, softly, on the cheek and then went downstairs. Cassie hurried through her morning routine, supplementing it today with a shower, washing her hair one more time and then toweling it dry and letting it lie over her shoulders although she pulled a few strands back with a clip. Not what she had wanted this morning, but it would do.   
  
Breakfast was a large meal today and more food was stashed in the refrigerator afterwards. Cassie saw one additional curler in the kitchen, hidden behind the carafe coffee was poured from in the mornings. She had grabbed it and stuffed it into her jeans' pocket quickly hoping that Molly hadn't noticed. She had a hard time meeting Remus' eyes as he ate breakfast but he talked normally to her and she eventually was able to relax a bit around him. She still thought George was joking about Remus' actually threatening to harm him, but the looks that passed between the two of them almost convinced her otherwise.   
  
Remus retreated to his room once again after breakfast and the morning passed rather quickly in a flurry of last-minute cleaning and cooking. An unfamiliar owl brought some letters for Remus and the family owl returned with two of Cassie's ordered Christmas presents. She examined the items carefully, pleased that they were as nice as she had hoped. These were tucked up into her trunk to join the others and she took a moment to mentally go over her shopping list once again. She really hoped that everything else arrived in time.   
  
So, after a pleasant morning, the crisis was unexpected and unwelcome.   
  
Arthur apparated into the kitchen at about 11 and when Cassie saw his expression she realized that something serious was happening. She, Molly, and Remus had gathered in the living room to hear what Arthur had to say and Cassie tried not to show how nervous she was. She really hated this constant tension that seemed to abate slightly at times but never really went away, this feeling that any moment something really bad was going to happen. In this case, it apparently had.   
  
Arthur explained that the Aurors were now actively looking to arrest several members of the Order and that he was on the list, as were Molly, Bill, Tonks and several other wizards and witches that Cassie didn't know. The twins had apparently escaped being directly listed as those in the Order, but Molly and Arthur were still extremely upset. "So, I can't go back into work, obviously. I'm grateful she warned me what was coming."   
  
"But how did she know? She's working for that Muggle Prime Minister still, isn't she?" Molly was pacing back and forth in the room as she asked this.   
  
"Yes. But apparently all our names, pictures, and descriptions have also been given to the Muggle press as well. That's how she knew." Molly and Remus both stared at Arthur as though he had grown another head.   
  
"What? Why would they -"  
  
"Remember what happened with Sirius, when he escaped from Azkaban? It's the same thing with us. They've eliminated any option of our hiding with the Muggles. But wait. That's not really the worst of it."  
  
"What could possibly be worse than this?"   
  
"They've put a warrant out for Harry's arrest also, saying he's a subversive, obviously working for the Order although he's still in school. And since his location today is known, they're planning to arrest him at the station before he even gets off the train."  
  
Now panic was a tangible presence in the room. Cassie knew that they would not allow Harry to be arrested. They would do anything to keep him safe because he was essentially their major weapon against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. All three of the adults stared at each other for a long minute. It was Molly who spoke first. "Well, that will never do! We have got to get him away from there! The wards are strong enough here to keep him hidden as well as they will the rest of us. We'll have to figure out some way to get him off the train before the Aurors can do anything about it."


	53. A Prank That Works, A Prank That Doesn't

Chapter 53  
A Prank That Works, A Prank That Doesn't  
  
Cassie's stomach immediately started doing a complicated tap dance. The tension in the air was palpable as Molly, Arthur, and Remus stared at each other. "Okay. We've got one problem with almost any plan we come up with," Remus said and both Arthur and Molly nodded in understanding. "None of us can actually go to the railroad station to meet the train because if there are Aurors there, we will certainly all be arrested."   
  
"What about just apparating onto the train after it stops?" Cassie asked. Remus smiled patiently.   
  
"That's a good idea. Unfortunately, it won't work. The train is similar to Hogwarts in that no one can apparate or disapparate onto or off it. So, that is not an option."   
  
"What about a portkey?" She didn't really know why she was suggesting anything. She knew they could certainly think of such obvious solutions as well as she could, but she felt she had to say something. Remus just shook his head.   
  
"Not possible in the short amount of time available, I'm afraid. It would raise all sorts of questions if we hurried and made one and then used it for such an unusual location."  
  
"I could . . ."  
  
"No." His answer was curt and Cassie blinked in surprise.   
  
"But I went to get you!"   
  
"And I'm grateful, it's just that this is a different situation. The Aurors are looking for you, too, remember? We'll think of something else." Just then, the answer to their problems arrived in the form of two identical teenagers, both with rather frantic looks on their faces.   
  
"Mum! Dad! You wouldn't believe what is being passed out to all the stores in the Alley!"  
  
"Does it have anything to do with your mother and I being wanted criminals?" Fred and George both blinked owlishly at their father.   
  
"How did you ever know?"   
  
"Look, we've got an even bigger problem," Arthur said, waving aside the flyer that Fred was shoving into his face. "It's Harry."   
  
"They wouldn't really arrest Harry, would they?!"   
  
"I don't really know, but we feel that we must get him off that train before the Aurors ever have a chance to get their hands on him. We just can't risk them harming him in any way. Anyone have any ideas?"   
  
"A diversion."   
  
"Maybe even two."   
  
"It shouldn't be that complicated."   
  
"We may need some help."   
  
"But fortunately, we have some friends who love to help get us into trouble."   
  
"Now boys . . . I'm not sure that your jokes are really appropriate at this time. We need a solid plan."   
  
"Well, unless you have any great ideas of your own, we better go with this one. We can distract both the Aurors and the Muggle police easily enough, but we've still got to get Harry off the train without anyone knowing that we are doing it."   
  
"He could wear his invisibility cloak." Everyone turned and stared at Cassie. "Well, he could. He's pretty good at getting around without anyone even suspecting he's there."   
  
"Harry has an invisibility cloak?" Molly asked. Remus nodded.   
  
"Yes. It was James' once. He, uh, puts it to pretty good use. I admit I had forgotten about it until she reminded me."   
  
"Will he have it with him, though?" George asked to no one in particular.  
  
"I think so," Remus offered again. "I don't think he likes to leave it at school because he is rather emotionally attached to it. One time . . . well, I'll tell that story later." Cassie remembered the frantic expression on Harry's face when he realized that Ron had left the cloak outside on the stairs at his invisible house and believed that Remus was right. "We'll just need to let Harry know to put it on before the train stops at the station."   
  
"Can we send him a note by owl or something?" Cassie didn't think that sounded too realistic, but she had no other ideas.   
  
"Yes. But somehow we'll have to tell him to wear the cloak without coming right out and saying it in case the owl is intercepted. Maybe we could call it 'James' covering' or something. He would hopefully understand that."   
  
"If you think that would work. But I know something he would definitely understand." In the end, Cassie was the one who wrote the note. George read it and looked at her with a puzzled expression, but he was busy with Fred sending an emergency owl to a friend who could notify the others and he didn't ask the obvious question in his eyes. Cassie smiled as she re-read the note. Harry would certainly understand this but no one else would.   
  
Mr. Evans,  
At your house in London that I visited this summer, something was left on the stairs that we had to retrieve before we followed the rest of your plan. When it was accio'd I was quite impressed with it. I'm sure you know what article of clothing I mean. You "look" so very handsome in it. You should put it on before the train actually comes into the station so that you make a very good impression on those who are waiting to meet you. Your three friends can meet them with you and probably won't be noticed, but they are especially looking forward to seeing you. They would like to invite you to a special holiday vacation, but we do so desperately want you with us instead. It's a surprise, so please do as I ask and decline the invitation.   
Love, the Star Queen  
  
She rolled it into a tight cylinder and attached it to Fred's owl, rumored to be the fastest one owned by the family. "Fly fast and hard. You've got to get to Harry before the train stops at the station. Please!" She opened the window and the owl flew into the air, disappearing in just a few seconds from her avid gaze. She wasn't sure the owl actually understood her or if it was just her tone of voice, but she could have sworn that he had listened to every word she said.   
  
"It should get to him without too many problems. We've got almost three hours before the train is due." George looked at her and smiled faintly. "I would take you with us, but it's just too dangerous."   
  
"She is not to leave this house - and especially not to go into the midst of a group of Aurors. They are all certainly still looking for her. I'm sure that Sootspinner is aware of her existence." Arthur was lecturing George in a tone of voice Cassie had never heard him use before. She thought that if Arthur was her dad, she would never cross him in that frame of mind. Definitely not. George looked at his father with a bit of exasperation in his gaze.   
  
"That's what I just said, Dad! Come on, Fred. We'd better get going. This will take quite a bit of work." They were gone a second later and Cassie had a small pang in her heart because he hadn't even kissed her goodbye. Of course, neither of them had kissed their parents either. So, she wasn't going to take it personally. Nor was she going to allow herself to dwell on the possibility that this may turn out to be much more complicated than they thought. They had gotten out of tight jams before. This would be no different.   
  
The plan they had shared with them was simple with a few safeguards built into some of the important steps. It basically consisted of one very noisy distraction out in the main part of the train station to cause panic among Muggle passengers, the Muggle police who could not pass through the barrier, and consternation among and Aurors who happened to be lurking outside the barrier in case somehow Harry got through in the confusion. Then, when things were totally chaotic outside the barrier, another distraction would be set off inside the barrier just as the train was pulling in and starting to discharge children to anxious parents. This one was more complicated, designed to put extreme fear into the hearts of practically everyone on the platform - a dark mark, they had called it. (Not a real one, the twins had explained to their appalled parents. One close enough to it to be frightening although it was just a simple joke shop item that was very popular amongst the angsty young wizarding crowd.) Hopefully everyone would panic and start pulling their children off the train in crowds too numerous to be closely examined. Somewhere in there, then, the two visible Weasley children and Hermione would exit the train with invisible Harry walking amongst them.   
  
One of the friends, Cassie couldn't remember any of the names at the moment, would be standing at one end of the platform and would start raising a ruckus at any black-haired student of the approximate right size he saw, calling him Harry Potter in a very loud voice and asking for his autograph. The other friends were to crowd around so that it genuinely looked like Harry was being accosted by adoring fans. Fred had laughingly suggested Blaise Zabini - "a little taller than Harry but not much, pale, dark black hair that he wears a little too long. He's in Slytherin and being mistaken for Harry will drive him insane." George thought the idea was hilarious. Cassie prayed that this person was on the train this year. The three friends and the real Harry would exit the train at the other end of the platform and quickly walk toward the barrier. Harry would be able to apparate off the platform quite easily and in all the noise and confusion, no one would even be able to tell he had gone.   
  
It was a good plan. Cassie was almost positive it would never work.   
  
Since there were three hours before the train was to arrive, she knew she would just have to wait, and like Arthur, Molly, and Remus, she could do nothing but hope and pray that the plan would at least have the desired effect and Harry could apparate directly into the welcoming kitchen of the Burrow. George and Fred would escort the other three back to the Burrow by taking them to Diagon Alley and then they could floo home from their store. And as much as Cassie knew the Weasleys loved Harry, they would not truly be able to relax until Ron and Ginny arrived safely home, so Cassie thought it would probably be somewhere around four hours from now that they could all finally declare the task completed.   
  
The four of them tried to find things to keep them busy, but they all seemed to end up in the living room again staring at each other. Time seemed to pass in agonizingly slow bits. When Cassie was sure that at least 30 minutes had passed since she last checked the time, it would have actually only been 10. She also kept staring at the Weasley family clock. Ginny's, Ron's, Harry's, and Hermione's hands kept pointing at "Traveling" which Mrs. Weasley informed her was normal for when they were on the train. George's and Fred's hands were pointing at "Up to No Good" but she imagined that was all right, since that was the intention at the moment. Two owls arrived for Cassie bearing Christmas presents and she had the vague notion that maybe she should get some of these wrapped, but she couldn't seem to focus on the task and after staring at the paper for a very long time without doing anything, she abandoned the idea and returned (again) to the living room where Arthur and Molly were trying to remain calm. The three hour mark finally arrived and the entire room seemed to hold it's breath as the seconds ticked by without any reassuring pop. They had now moved their base camp to the kitchen as that is where the apparating and flooing would occur and they were all exhibiting nervous tics as they waited. All six hands of the various natural and adopted Weasleys suddenly swung to the "In Mortal Peril" space on the clock. Cassie had thought it would not be possible for things to get more tense, but they did. Arthur tried to reassure his wife that this was to be expected, that even if the plan was going as anticipated, they would be danger and for quite a few minutes. However, that did nothing to make anyone in the room feel any better.   
  
Ron and Hermione's hands suddenly left that position and swept into the traveling mode again. Ginny's and Harry's as well as George's and Fred's all stayed put. "They've had to split up." Finally, Ginny's joined them while Harry's didn't budge. It seemed like an hour before Harry's suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, swung in one grand arc to "Traveling" and then "Home" accompanied by a rather noisy pop. At first Cassie was afraid something had gone wrong as Harry's body did not accompany the pop, until a weary hand swept the cloak off a mussed head, and his bright green eyes took in the scene of anxious anticipation. He wasted no time on preliminary chit-chat. "It's complete chaos. They're being searched again and again for evidence of me. But since there is none, I'm pretty sure that they'll be allowed to pass through the barrier soon." No one asked who the "they" were.   
  
"What happened?"   
  
"I'm not really sure. If I understood the note correctly, I was supposed to exit the train when it got to Platform 9 3/4. But it didn't get there, well, it's there now. But it stopped about 300 meters down the track and Aurors started walking over to it, obviously intending to board. I was already in my cloak and felt fairly confident that I could avoid them in a loo or something. But then the screaming started. I looked out the window and saw some sort of Dark Mark. I decided I'd better get off the train immediately so I climbed through the compartment window onto the ground. Which meant I had to get onto the platform to see what was going on while I was still under the cloak. That wasn't easy, but I managed. I saw Fred and George right away - although the parents were still screaming and streaming down onto the tracks to go to the train themselves, they looked very calm, so I realized that it was probably their doing." Everyone nodded.   
  
"So I said something quietly to Fred and he told me to apparate here. But I didn't leave. I had to see what was happening with the others."   
  
"That was foolish, Harry. Fred and George -"   
  
"Maybe. But I don't want to debate it now. After quite a long while, the train finally pulled up to the platform. By then it was full of parents who were reassuring themselves of their kids' safety. Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were being manhandled and all their luggage was being searched. They kept insisting that I had stayed at school but then someone at the other end of the track screamed that there I was and they started clambering around one of the students. I think that must have been part of the ploy as well, but unfortunately, it made the three of them look like liars, so then they were questioned even harder. After they realized it was not me, but Zabini, they took them back on the train and I don't know what happened then. I tried to go but then Fred and George went on to get them so I decided not to interfere. Then I disapparated."   
  
"How many Aurors had them?"   
  
"Six. Two each. And they were not being nice, I tell you. If one of them comes home with so much as a bruise, Woodburn is going to hear about it personally from me. Now, will someone please tell me what's going on!"   
  
"Yes, of course. But let's just tell the story once, after everyone gets here." Wordlessly, Arthur handed the flyer that Fred had been holding earlier in the day to Harry, who blinked several times before he let a rather foul curse word slip out. Molly didn't correct him. It was 30 minutes before the fire flared green and Ginny stepped out of it into the kitchen. Hermione and then Ron followed immediately. Hugs were exchanged all around between the parents and their "children." Even Harry, who Cassie could tell was not too comfortable with the idea, was hugged warmly by Hermione and Molly. Ron shook his hand. Ginny hugged him but didn't let go. Cassie noticed that Harry didn't protest at her touch.   
  
"What happened?"   
  
"Forced Hermione to take Veritaserum." Ron scowled through the answer, biting out the words like arrows shot from a bow.   
  
"You must be kidding!" Arthur looked genuinely shocked.   
  
"No. The, er, slimeballs questioned her. When she said under its influence that Harry was not on the train they had to believe her. They were too stupid to ask if he had started out on the train earlier today."   
  
"I wouldn't have said it. I wouldn't have." Her chin was set in defiance and both Cassie and Ginny patted her shoulders in sympathy."   
  
"Since they don't know about the invisibility cloak and since they knew they had not seen him getting off the train at any point, I think they thought he was just hiding on the train in one form or another. So they didn't ask at all about his getting off. I think they were going to ask if Harry had used anything to change his appearance but then Fred and George showed up and insisted that we go with them, that they had no right to hold us for anything. The Aurors looked very unhappy, but realized that now it was six to five and that there was a chance someone could get hurt. I keep saying Aurors, but they're not, really, are they? I mean, they must be Death Eaters posing as them or something. I tried to figure out which ones were holding us, but I never could tell. When I find out, they're going to pay for what they did to Hermione!"   
  
Before anyone could answer him, two familiar pops sounded through the room and both George and Fred looked around the crowded kitchen. "Decided to go ahead and keep the shop closed. We thought it would look less suspicious. We had to just count up the day's receipts." Fred kept looking around counting noises. "You've all made it safely. Good. That was a mess. I never want to do that again. I think I've aged 15 years in the last two hours." He sat down in a kitchen chair. George laughed as a reply.   
  
"Liar! You loved it! Even when it went bad!" Fred grinned.   
  
"You could let me have a few secrets! It was good, though. They were completely flummoxed. Completely! I almost wanted to tell them how it had happened but I didn't of course." Molly hit Fred on the back of the head. "Hey! What was that for?"   
  
"For enjoying it."   
  
"Honestly, mother!"   
  
"I think they actually love getting into trouble like that. Otherwise they wouldn't sell all that troublemaking equipment in their shop." Everyone looked at Hermione, who herself looked shocked that she had actually said that out loud about their rescuers. "Oh! I'm sorry! I think that Veritaserum is still in my system! I'm so, so sorry!"   
  
"It'll wear off, love," said Ron. "Why don't we go up and get you settled in Ginny's room?" All four of them started up the steps a few moments later, only waiting for Harry to enlarge his trunk from the tiny size he had carried with him under the cloak. He explained that he had decided not to leave the luggage as proof of his presence, which had turned out to be a very wise move. Cassie, of course, didn't need to get settled in, but she was almost positive that Ginny would want her bed back, so she wanted to move some of her things to wherever she was going to be now. She remained with them as all five squished into the too-small bedroom.   
  
"UGH!! We'll definitely need an enlargement charm on this room - we need space for two more beds and for our trunks. Can you do that, Harry?"   
  
Harry did something with his wand that Cassie didn't see. Afterward, the room looked absolutely no different to her, but everyone was fitting comfortably now. Cassie wondered if she had somehow shrunk, but her clothes were still fitting her right and when she put her hand against the bookcase, it was still proportional with the books. "I could make the beds for you, Ginny." Ron volunteered, winking at Hermione.   
  
"Uh, no. No offense, Ron, but the last time you made me a bed it dissolved in the middle of the night and I wound up sleeping in the corner. Mum can do it later." Ginny opened Hermione's trunk and pulled out a sweater. "As that wears off, you'll be cold. This'll help."   
  
Hermione looked blandly at the sweater. "I'd rather snuggle up with Ron and let him keep me warm. That would be more comfortable." Her eyes widened and she blushed as everyone looked at her in surprise. "Oh, I can't believe I actually said that in front of all of you." They started to laugh and Cassie helped Hermione lie down to rest. She looked wan and exhausted, and closed her eyes when her head hit Ginny's pillow. As she rested, Harry and Ron helped move the trunks and get things settled as best they could. Ron again volunteered to conjure up the two extra beds as no one had anywhere to sit, but Ginny again turned him down. Cassie sat on her trunk, while Harry and Ron made themselves as comfortable as possible on the floor. Everyone looked at Hermione who was starting to shiver. Ron got up from the floor and sat down next to her and gently rubbed her shoulders. Ginny also went over to her.  
  
"Do you need anything, Hermione?"  
  
"Yeah. I really need to pee. If I don't go soon, I'll wet myself." Her eyes flew open and she looked frantically at Ginny. "Oh, please tell me I didn't just say that out loud." Ginny grinned and nodded. Hermione mumbled something under her breath and covered her eyes with her hand. "This is humiliating." Ron, who was fighting to hold back laughter, stood up and helped Hermione up, commenting that she better go down the hall to the loo. She blushed brightly, glared at him, and then quickly exited the room. A few minutes later she came back in, picked up her sweater and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Well, we might as well go downstairs because laying here really isn't helping anything. Maybe I could have something hot to drink."  
  
The five of them walked down the stairs into the kitchen where they found Fred and George sitting at the table drinking coffee. "Where're Mum and Dad? I thought they were going to tell us what's up with the Aurors and everything."   
  
"Yeah. I have to admit I'm curious why my name and picture are on a flyer." Harry indicated the paper the twins had brought back from Diagon Alley earlier.   
  
"They're out in the living room working with Remus at notifying all the other people the Aurors want to arrest. It's causing a great deal of trouble for the Order. Most of these people are on assignments at the moment and are hard to reach. But if they're exposed and arrested, the problems are just going to get worse."   
  
"I don't understand any of this," Ginny complained, scowling at the flier as though she held it personally responsible for daring to have Harry's picture on it.   
  
"I don't know that you're going to get many answers from the parents. They don't know much, either. But I think they'll tell you the whole story at dinner, which should be in an hour or two. You can wait that long, can't you?" Everyone grumbled but no one was brave enough to go out into the living room and interrupt the adults either, so they settled themselves down to wait. Hermione did not want coffee, so Ginny started making hot chocolate for her and anyone else that wanted it. Cassie sat next to George, who quietly put his hand on her knee. Harry sat on her other side and left a chair for Ginny, while Hermione groggily sat down and rested her head on Ron's shoulder.   
  
"You know, this table cloth really doesn't go with the decor of the kitchen." Ron gently patted her shoulder as he rolled his eyes.   
  
Fred gave her an appraising look, shot a grin at George and then spoke. "Oh, Hermione, why don't you tell us about the most embarrassing experience you've had snogging with Ron?"   
  
Everyone but Ron smiled and looked at Hermione with interest. She scowled in frustration and Cassie could tell she didn't really want to answer, but then she straightened up and started to speak. "Well, it was probably the time Ron and I sneaked into Firenze's classroom because we thought it would be romantic to . . ."   
  
Ron, who was turning crimson, covered her mouth with his hand. "You two, knock it off. That's evil of you to ask her questions when you know she can't help answering."  
  
The twins chuckled as Ginny served the others the hot chocolate. "Well, yeah. Your point is?" Ron's scowl deepened, but Hermione didn't answer the question and after a few moments, even Ron relaxed.   
  
Harry took a deep breath and stared down into the depths of his mug. "Thanks for coming to get me today, guys. And the note, Cassie, was brilliant."   
  
"I'm glad the owl found you."   
  
George sighed. "Things didn't work out quite like they were supposed to. But I guess in the end, it turned out all right." Everyone nodded as they thought back over the events of the afternoon. "Was everyone impressed with our fake Dark Mark?"   
  
"It was scary."   
  
"That was the point - to cause confusion and everything."   
  
"Well, it definitely did that." Ginny grinned at Cassie. "Yelling, screaming, panicking. Reminds me of Malfoy this week when you got your revenge on him. That was terrific, by the way." Harry and Ron both laughed, obviously remembering the event with pleasure.   
  
Cassie gave Ginny a puzzled look. "Well, thanks. But Malfoy couldn't yell or scream. Remember? We'd put that silencing charm on him."   
  
"That was on Sunday. I'm talking about what happened on Wednesday when he opened that other package you sent."   
  
"What are you talking about? I didn't send anything to that slimy git." She looked over at the twins immediately, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. They looked so absolutely innocent that Cassie knew with certainty who had sent the package. "What was in this package that someone or someones as yet identified sent to Draco Malfoy?"   
  
"I don't know, really. Some sort of bomb or firecracker or something. It exploded when he touched it and spilled a sort of bright yellow liquid all over him."   
  
"Did it spray all over or just kind of glump?" Fred asked, looking even more innocent than before. Cassie shook her head, trying not to smile. It would not do to look like she approved of this although she was dying to know what had happened.   
  
"Don't know. I would guess that it sprayed because it was all over him - well, over his clothes at least."   
  
"And what did this potion that I did not send do to him?"   
  
Ron was grinning broadly. Cassie knew that he really hated Malfoy and had enjoyed the results. Obviously this potion had done something nasty to the boy. "Nothing to him. It was his clothes. It dissolved them."   
  
"Not dissolved. Just made them temporarily transparent," Fred corrected and George elbowed him in the ribs. "They knew it was us, George. I don't think anyone was really wondering who had sent the potion by now." He turned his attention to the younger people at the table. "It's from that Sweet Revenge section of the shop. Designed to humiliate someone. But we did take a chance with the packaging because we weren't sure how it would travel."   
  
"Well, it was brill. It took him a few minutes to even realize what was happening. That's when he started screaming. And then he wiped his hands on his robes because I think he thought he was going to disappear, too. But that just made more of his robe disappear. He got up and ran at a full sprint out of the Great Hall. But it was too late. Enough of the robes were gone in front that you could see his underwear!"   
  
"Oh, really?" Cassie tried not to laugh, but she couldn't help it. Ron was telling the story with such glee that it was hard to be angry.   
  
"Now, I do not spend any time thinking about Malfoy's underwear, but I had always pictured him wearing green silk boxers or something like that." Everyone nodded. "We couldn't see because we were too far away, but some of the Hufflepuffs got a good look as he stood up at the Slytherin table. His boxers had hearts and presents all over them and said 'Santa's little helper' or something to that effect."   
  
It took about five minutes for Cassie, George, and Fred to stop laughing. And then Hermione said, "He's too skinny for my taste, but he does have a nice chest" which sent everybody into renewed gales of laughter - well, everyone but Ron who scowled again. But he continued the story when people had calmed down enough to hear the rest.   
  
"And what we heard is that by the time he got to the common room, even parts of his boxers were starting to become transparent and -  
  
"No more! Please! I do not want to hear more." Cassie covered her ears with her hands.   
  
"But we do" said the twins.   
  
"Well, for the sake of Cassie's delicate sensibilities," Ron joked. "I will only say that the laughter of the Slytherin girls echoed through the entire common room and was rumored to be heard as far away as Snape's classroom!" After a few more minutes of laughter, Ron concluded his story with the triumphant line. "The best part is that Draco didn't come out of his dorm room the entire day!" It took everyone a while to recover from their bouts of hysterical laughing, but when they had, Cassie looked at Ginny.   
  
"What made you think I could have done that complicated of a trick?"  
  
"Well, of course I knew you had had help. But I thought you had written the note and come up with the idea."  
  
"There was a note?" Cassie looked pointedly at George and then turned back to Ginny. "Was it signed by me?" Ginny nodded. "And what did this note say, exactly?"   
  
"Uh . . . let's see. It said . . ." Ginny was working hard trying to remember the exact wording. Fortunately, George remembered.   
  
"It said, 'This should teach you to keep your mind on your own underwear and off other people's knickers.' And you signed it." Cassie grinned at him.  
  
"You are incorrigible. You know that, don't you?"   
  
"Completely incorrigible" Hermione piped up. "It's a wonder you didn't get kicked out of school years before you left." She closed her eyes again as if she hadn't said anything and leaned even heavier against Ron's shoulder.   
  
"How long will this last?" Cassie looked at Hermione with sympathy. She obviously was just saying the first thing that came to her mind, completely uncensored.   
  
"It depends how much they gave her." Harry finally spoke up. He had been laughing at the story about Malfoy, too, but he was obviously quite shaken by the events of this afternoon and was now staring moodily down at the tabletop as he traced the patterns of the not-quite-matching tablecloth.   
  
"They gave her quite a lot." Ron growled, obviously frustrated at his inability to help her on the train when the Aurors were forcing it down her throat.   
  
"Which means it should last long enough"   
  
"For us to get some good information out of her," Fred finished George's sentence. "Now, Hermione. How would you like to go on a walk? We'd love to talk to you about ickle Ronniekins. We promise that anything you say will be kept in the strictest confidence."   
  
"You aren't taking her anywhere!" Ron nearly yelled, tightening his grip on Hermione's hand. "She's staying here with me."   
  
"Fine, fine. We don't mind talking here in front of everyone. So, Hermione, how is Ron, really, as a snogging partner?" Hermione's eyes opened wearily and she started to talk, but Ron again covered her mouth and although she was muttering something, Cassie couldn't understand what she said.   
  
"I think that's enough, George, Fred. You're embarrassing your brother." Cassie grinned but she squeezed George's hand in warning.   
  
"All right, all right. We'll stop asking Hermione questions." His eyes fixed on her face, though, and Cassie knew who was next in the interrogations. "I believe you mentioned something about putting a silencing charm on Malfoy on Sunday morning. I would really like to hear the details of this entire incident."   
  
No. I don't think so. It's, uh, not important now." Cassie really hoped that the whole thing could be forgotten. It wasn't that she was ashamed. Not at all. In fact, she considered it one of her crowning glories at Hogwarts. But it wasn't something she was sure she would feel comfortable discussing in front of George. It had been a little vicious, after all.   
  
"Ooooh, Fred! George! I can't believe she hasn't told you this! It was so terrific!" Ginny hopped up with enthusiasm, and Cassie shook her head, trying to get her to sit back down. She was ignored. "Did you hear what happened Saturday night after dinner?" The entire insulting conversation was retold with relish, Ginny throwing herself into the role of a dramatic actress with a gusto that amazed Cassie. She rarely saw Ginny this animated. "So, of course, we had to do something to get him back. We were coming down to breakfast Sunday morning and the idea just came to me. I'm glad we went ahead and did it, since Cassie left only a little later."   
  
The twins were very familiar with the little niche where Ginny had hidden herself and when Ginny actually suggested acting out the Sunday morning event, both boys eagerly agreed, conjuring up a curtain that hung in mid air to its exact dimensions. "Come on, Cassie. Don't be embarrassed. We want to see what you did!"   
  
"All right! All right! I need someone to be Draco." She looked at George. "Do you want to volunteer?"  
  
"No, I want to watch! Harry'll do it."  
  
"No, Harry won't!" Harry said. "Because he knows what happens to poor Draco at the end of this story." But some quick talking convinced Harry that he was the only one for the job.   
  
"Ron's too tall for this. You're the right size and everything."   
  
"Okay, but don't get carried away. We're just pretending, remember." Ginny handed Cassie a spoon to be her wand and Cassie got into position by the curtain.   
  
The entire scene was narrated by Ginny, who kept poking her wand and also her head through the curtain to make comments as the story progressed. George and Fred laughed the entire time so hard that Cassie wondered why none of the adults in the house had some to see how they were being tortured.   
  
When they got to the part in the action where Cassie actually hurt Draco, Harry gulped and stood there with the expression of a condemned man. Ginny continued with her narration, unconcerned. "So with Malfoy silenced and leg-locked, Cassie grabbed his shoulders and told him never to mess with her like that again. Then she kneed him in the groin really hard. You should have seen his face as he fell to the ground!" The boys all had expressions on their faces as if they were feeling Malfoy's pain and their laughter sounded rather forced. "Then, I did a full body bind on him before we did the Bat Bogey hex with that wand you made for her. And, of course, he couldn't do one thing about it. He just had to lay there and take it." Harry looked relieved that he actually hadn't been harmed, and he stiffened, fell to the floor, and acted out a silent scream as both Ginny's wand and Cassie's spoon pointed down at him in triumph.   
  
"Then we rolled him behind the curtain and went into the Great Hall for a very tasty breakfast!" The two girls bowed and Cassie jokingly put her foot on Harry's chest and raised her arms over her head in the universal indication of victory.   
  
George wiped his streaming eyes and Fred played with the collar of his robes. "Uh, remind me never to get Cassie mad at me."   
  
Hermione had roused a little and had been chuckling along with the others as she sipped her hot chocolate. She spoke up again. "Kneeing that disgusting slime ball wasn't enough. She should have just gra . . ."   
  
Ron, who was staring at her wide-eyed, quickly put his hand over her mouth. "You don't want to say that out loud, Hermione. You'll be embarrassed later."   
  
Ginny finished the story with the end that Cassie did not know. "Anyway, they didn't find him until after lunch so he was there for hours. Once they got the silencing charm off of him, I heard he spoke soprano for the rest of the day! But there was nothing he could do for revenge. She was already gone!"   
  
George and Fred shook their heads in amazement as Harry stood up from behind the curtain where he had been rolled and sat down gratefully in his chair, trying ineffectually to smooth his messy hair. Hermione again started to make a comment, and Ron immediately put his hand over her mouth. She glared at him and mumbled through the hand that she wasn't going to say anything embarrassing. Ron just grinned at her. Cassie had the feeling he was enjoying Hermione being in the foot-in-mouth position instead of himself for once. She was usually the one in control of her emotions while he just spouted out whatever popped into his mind. They were all still recovering from their near-hysterical laughter when Molly came into the kitchen. The lines on her face were deeper than they had been this morning and Cassie thought she looked like she had aged 10 years.   
  
"I'll have dinner ready in a few minutes, kids. Then we need to have a discussion. You all certainly deserve to know the entire story of what is going on."


	54. The Entire Story

Chapter 54  
The Entire Story  
  
Cassie automatically stood up to help Molly get dinner on the table and smiled as both Ginny and Hermione joined her. The next half hour was an interesting one for her. Molly had prepared quite a bit of the food beforehand and heated it with magic, assisted by the young witches. Molly also hurriedly threw together a few more casseroles and when Cassie asked Ginny why she was making so much food, Ginny just rolled her eyes. "Partly because Ron and Harry always pack it away and partly because when she's nervous, she cooks. Obviously, she's slightly stressed at the moment." Ron and the twins made a rapid retreat when it looked like Molly was going to ask them to help but Harry bravely stayed behind and made a salad. Cassie set the table the old-fashioned Muggle way, but since all the cooking tonight was being done with magic so that it would be faster, there was not much else she could do. It was fun, though; everyone talked and laughed as they moved around the very crowded kitchen, doing what could have been an elaborately choreographed set of maneuvers to avoid being stabbed, cut, or burned as objects and spells hurtled through the air at lightning fast speed.   
  
"Cassie, dear, could you take these, please. They're getting in the way and . . ."  
  
Cassie spied the box Molly was holding out to her. "Sure. No problem." She took it, intending to give it back to Fred, maybe by dumping it over his head, but then an idea occurred to her. She started up the steps, mulling over the possibilities in her mind as she climbed. When she reached her landing, she looked at the one additional flight of steps she would need to ascend if she were to give it back to him and then looked at the door to Ginny's room. Why not? She scurried into the room and slipped the box into her trunk to be used at a later point, and then she went back downstairs, making sure to keep her face as passively innocent as possible.   
  
The table was literally groaning as the group sat down a little later. Arthur had expanded it so there was room for the ten of them but it was still overly full. Cassie counted five different main dishes as well as the appropriate accompaniments for each of them, salad, rolls, three different types of potatoes, vegetables, etc. And she knew there were at least four desserts waiting for later. She tried a very little bit of everything. This reminded her a little bit of her time at Hogwarts but here she didn't have the necessity of climbing through the castle to burn off all the calories, so she would need to be careful what she ate, especially as Christmas was on the horizon and she realized that the food was only likely to get richer and more plentiful as the big day approached. Ginny was right, though. Not that Cassie was surprised because she had seen the boys eat before, but both Ron and Harry really outdid themselves in the eating department. However, there was still plenty left as they started winding down and Cassie thought that they probably had enough here for leftovers for a week, although if Molly was just as nervous tomorrow about the warrants out for everyone's arrest, she was likely to cook an entire new selection of dishes, just to keep her mind occupied.   
  
Dinner was a fairly solemn affair, the hearty eating continuing even as Arthur explained what had been happening with the Auror's office and the theories that Remus and Dumbledore were working on to explain why all of this effort was being made to neutralize the Order. Ron had been extremely angry when he was told that the "Aurors" from earlier in the day were indeed Aurors, not Death Eaters as he had supposed. They were all equally upset when Cassie told them that she recognized Sootspinner from the meeting.   
  
"But how could Nightscall be letting this happen?" Hermione had asked, abandoning all pretext of eating her broccoli. "For the Aurors to be fighting against the Order, when he has always been so supportive of it makes no sense."   
  
"He obviously doesn't know Sootspinner is working against the Order, Hermione. If he did, he would have him chucked out. The problem is, we really can't tell him as he would then demand to know where we got our information and if we told him about Cassie . . . well, we still don't know if he's got spies working for him. It's just too risky to let him know we have her here." George finished speaking and smiled at Cassie, who looked down at her plate and flushed. She wished she could have sat next to him, but Ron had taken the spot she had planned on sitting.   
  
"But what about Woodburn's assistant, that Kilbraithe guy or whatever his name is? Isn't he getting a little suspicious?"   
  
"We really don't know what he's doing. He may not even be in the office right now. He's been trying to unite foreign ministries in the fight against You-Know-Who for a while and that means he's been traveling a lot. This arrest warrant business may be too much, but things move slowly in government. He would have to be more than just suspicious." Arthur looked down at his food, pushing his fork aimlessly through his potatoes. "I've got to talk to Kingsley but I can't exactly go to the office at the moment. He's going to have to find me, I suppose."   
  
"Can't the Aurors come and arrest you here, Arthur? I've been kind of wondering that all day, actually." Arthur looked up at her in surprise.   
  
"Well, no. The house is heavily warded, unplottable, etc. No one can come in unless we've made prior arrangements . . . that's why you're here, you know. And Harry."   
  
"But everyone knows where you live!"   
  
"Not really. Wizard houses can be well-hidden. No one can come here to arrest us. Don't worry about that."   
  
"But they found Remus. Well, the headquarters. And that was hidden." Everyone looked rather sharply at Arthur. Cassie had brought up a good point. No one should have been able to find a Fidelius charmed house and yet here was Remus, proof that they had. How safe could The Burrow be, compared to that?  
  
"Er . . . yes. Well, that is a little strange, isn't it? We think they knew pretty much exactly where to look. We just don't know how they knew."   
  
"We've been betrayed, I believe." Remus said bluntly into the silence that followed Arthur's statement and as if one, everyone at the table took a deep breath of shock, not moving at all.   
  
"You mean . . . one of the Order has . . . . No! I won't believe it. I can't believe it." Molly was shaking her head. "There has to be some other explanation. Someone was followed, someone was careless. Those are people we know, people we trust! People we have trusted with our lives!" Molly stood, agitated, and started cutting into the first pie, even though most people still had dinner on their plates.   
  
"My dad trusted Peter with our lives." The silence that followed Harry's announcement was even more profound than that which had followed Arthur's.   
  
"I think-" Remus never finished his sentence because at that moment, a witch Cassie had never seen before apparated into the kitchen, almost knocking Molly over as she stumbled backward and bashed her head against the refrigerator. Wands were raised as the witch stood again, shaking her head in shock and looked at them. "Wotcher, everyone! These shoes and I don't get along well. Bloody things." The face started shifting, like it was melting, the hair shortening and darkening, the features becoming more delicate, the skin smoothing like it was being ironed, until a witch Cassie did recognize was standing there, rubbing the back of her head where her skull had connected with the hard corner of the kitchen appliance.   
  
"Hi, Tonks!" everyone said. Cassie studied her with interest. She had never seen her actually do the disguise thing before and it was interesting, almost like a computer controlled morph of one face into another, but Cassie knew that no computer had done that. Tonks looked around at the assembled group.   
  
"I'm sorry to interrupt your supper. I wanted to come talk about the events of the day." She grinned at Harry. "I see you got away all right. Good!" Remus scooted over and conjured a chair for her. She sat down and Molly passed her a plate, which she happily started filling from the still-abundant quantities of food on the table.   
  
Harry smiled back. "Yeah, thanks to you."  
  
"Not me. Rebecca, Cassie's mum. She's the one you need to thank." She hit the end of one spoon with her plate, and peas flew up in the air and hit Ginny in the head. No one said anything although Cassie bit her lip while Ginny scowled.   
  
Everyone looked at Cassie again and she looked at Tonks. "What did you say?"   
  
"She's the one who notified Andrew, who told me. I told Arthur, and well, the rest you know." She tried to get some gravy, leaving a trail of the greasy stuff from the bowl to her plate.   
  
"But how did Mrs. Robinson know about the Aurors trying to arrest us? That doesn't make any sense." Harry was looking askance at Tonks who had dropped a roll and was trying to retrieve it from the floor without dropping her plate.   
  
"She doesn't know a thing about the Aurors. She saw it on the telly - the early news, I guess. I think they have news on several times a day, must get right boring with -"  
  
"Tonks!" Harry scowled. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"They have the news on several times a day. The Prime Minister has it on all day, cable news, he calls it. It's the same thing over and over again, all the time and it's all -" she took a bite and rolled her eyes in ecstasy at Molly's cooking.   
  
"Tonks!" This time, Harry sounded extremely frustrated. "I think you're missing the point of my question."  
  
"No, I'm not, Harry. You want to know how Rebecca knew about the arrest warrants. I've told you, she saw it on the news!" She was holding her fork as she turned to look at Harry and it flew out of her hand and landed on Remus' lap. He just picked it up and returned it to her, not mentioning the mess she had made on his robes.   
  
"But -"   
  
"Arthur told you that they've put it on the Muggle news, too, right? So none of you can go into hiding with them, either. Muggle police are looking everywhere for you. And I think there's a rather sizeable reward for any news that, uh . . . 'leads to your arrest and conviction.' Yeah, that's right." She reached for the salt and knocked over her water glass which Fred righted and refilled as she sprinkled her mashed potatoes.   
  
"They've put us on the news! With our pictures!!"   
  
"That's what Rebecca said. And since then I've seen it about 100 times in the PM's office. Well, and my picture is there, too, of course. Since the office thinks I've skedaddled, I'm also wanted for questioning. Right! Questioning my toe. No mention that I may not look anything like myself but I guess that might be hard to explain. It's probably just as well, though." She took another helping of chicken, this time without doing bodily harm to anyone at the table. Remus was looking at her with a sort of half-smile on his face that Cassie thought was amusement at her clumsiness. But when he quietly retrieved her napkin (which she had dropped) and buttered her roll for her, Cassie looked more carefully at the two of them.   
  
Remus was fairly young, really, although his hair was shot through with gray, maybe 37 or 38. Not much older. Tonks was young, too. She remembered Ginny saying she had only been out of school for about 7 years, which would make her about 25. So the age difference was not extreme. And she was pretty. Her face was delicate and heart-shaped, the dark short hair framing it at the moment as it was not shockingly pink or violet and not standing straight up on her head. Remus was fairly handsome. And there was no question that he needed someone to love him. Cassie wasn't sure that this girl/woman, who seemed extremely flighty and barely sane, was the right someone, but sometimes one's heart didn't always listen to reason. She herself was a prime example of this. She couldn't tell if Tonks reciprocated the feeling or even if she was reading the look on Remus' face right, but she smiled into her napkin, crossed her fingers, and offered a silent prayer to whichever God watched over werewolves. "If this could work out, please let it. He deserves it, you know."   
  
"They did that to Sirius." Harry said after a few moments and everyone nodded. "Said he was a murderer. They just conveniently didn't mention how he had murdered or whom he had been imprisoned for killing. So, what did they say about us exactly?"  
  
"Um, what's the word they used? Terrorism. That's it. They're saying that you are all suspected terrorists with the IRA or something like that." Cassie nodded although no one else did. But it made perfect sense to her. Her dad had said that the Prime Minister was focusing strongly on terrorism at the moment and since it would be extremely unlikely that people would think Arthur, Molly, Harry, and the others were from the Middle East, the IRA would be the logical explanation. Say the words IRA Terrorists to people in Britain, and everyone would do just about anything to get them off the streets. They called it Terrorism for a reason, because that is what you lived in when you were a target. Terror.   
  
When Tonks finished eating, Molly served dessert and everyone managed to eat at least some, even though they were all full to bursting by the time they stood up from the table. Clean up was fast with everyone helping magically except for Cassie, who washed down the table and cleared leftovers from the pans. It turned out that Molly used a sort of spell to keep the food fresh in the fridge rather than plastic wrap or foil, which explained why Cassie had never been able to find it that first morning. She thought it seemed a little strange, just putting an uncovered bowl into the refrigerator and trusting that the spell would keep it from picking up odors or getting other stuff in it, but no one else said anything, so she decided she would have to trust it. Not that she had a choice.   
  
Molly, Remus, Arthur, Tonks, George, and Fred all went into the living room when clean-up was done for what Fred laughingly called "grown up business. All you little kids can go up and go to bed." Ron and Harry scowled but Cassie had the distinct impression they were actually relieved to be dismissed. She knew she was. It was depressing to sit in a meeting with others and hear things that were very unpleasant. She wasn't naive enough to think that just because she didn't hear them didn't mean they hadn't happened, but at least she could remain blissfully ignorant for a little longer. She had realized over the last couple of weeks that the old adage 'ignorance is bliss' could actually be true.   
  
All five of them trudged up the steps and by unspoken agreement went into Ginny's room. The extra beds had been brought in, or more likely conjured, and Cassie hoped it hadn't been Ron who had done it. The room looked like it had always been just the perfect size to hold the three beds, trunks, etc., and all of the furniture looked normal. But it was strange because Cassie knew full well that only a few short hours before there had barely been enough room in here for the one. The window was bigger now, but the curtains hung in the exact same way and looked identical as they had earlier. It was very odd. Cassie felt like shaking her head and closing her eyes so that the sort of warped feeling would leave her brain, but she knew that when she opened them, everything would look the same, so there was no point. Ginny sat down on one bed and Hermione the other, their boyfriends joining them. Cassie was a bit unsure what to do, but then Ginny smiled and patted her pillow. "Come sit here, Cassie. We can talk that way. If you sit on your bed, you'll be too far away." So Cassie sat down at the head of Ginny's bed, leaning her back against the headboard and hugged Ginny's pillow close to her as the conversation started.   
  
Cassie asked about how her friends at school were doing and what story Ginny had told about her leaving so abruptly. It might have been improbable that someone's parents would put them into school and then take them out barely a week later, but not impossible and no one asked too many questions. Ginny, of course, hadn't told anyone she would be seeing "Pia" over Christmas, so no one had sent notes or letters, although Ginny assured her that they did miss her. The conversation veered back to Malfoy at one point and everyone laughed as they once again recounted the story of the clothes-dissolving mail bomb. "And he's pale all over, sort of a like a bleached fish left in the sun too long if you ask me. All the color's gone out of him - probably weird inbreeding or something causes that."   
  
Cassie and the others laughed at Ron's joke . She smiled happily. She loved being here with all of them, snug and secure in Ginny's room. They talked for a few more minutes and then there was a knock on the door. At Ginny's "yeah?" Fred's head peeked in.   
  
"Hey! We thought we'd find you five in here. Whatja doin'?"   
  
"Just talking. Come on in." Fred looked dubiously at the two beds, now currently occupied by the five sprawling bodies, and sat down next to Ron. George scowled at him because he had taken the last available space. He looked over at Cassie, who was tempted to scoot over and make room for him, but before she could move, he sat down on the floor, leaning back against the bed where she was. If she reached her hand out, she could thread her fingers through his hair. She was itching to do so, but instead just twisted her hands together over the pillow and stared down at them.   
  
The conversation moved on as though it hadn't been interrupted and the laughing and teasing about people at Hogwarts continued for a long while. When there was a lull in the conversation, Cassie decided it was time for the chocolates. "My mum sent me some chocolates a few days ago, everyone. They're really good and we always get them at Christmastime. Is anyone in the mood for some?"   
  
"Great! I'm starved!" Ron snapped to attention at her words. Everyone laughed and even Ron looked sheepish, realizing that just over an hour ago they had finished a huge meal. Cassie got off the bed, shivering slightly as George's hand curved around her ankle as she stood next to him for a second. She pulled the box of Rudolpho's out of her trunk, taking off the top so that the moving picture was not visible. Fred was the one who noticed first and his eyes widened slightly in surprise but he never made a sound. Cassie offered everyone a chocolate, even George and Fred, both of whom took one, looking resigned, even though they knew what was going to happen. Cassie even took one out of the box and bit into it. They were really good. She remembered how Neville always at Canary Cremes even though he knew what was going to happen. The candy was good enough to make the momentary discomfort of being an animal worth it.   
  
Everyone put chocolates in their mouths at about the same moment, but Ron snarfed his down the fastest, and everyone laughed in surprise and amazement as the antlers grew from his head and his nose turned bright red.. Within the space of just a few seconds, all seven of them were pointing at each other and jumping up to examine themselves in Ginny's mirror. They all looked ridiculous but it was fun. There was one particularly funny moment when Harry went to kiss Ginny and their antlers got entangled. Everyone else was practically hysterical by the time they freed themselves although the looks on their faces was decidedly less amused. It took about 10 minutes for everyone's face to return to normal and for the antlers to dissolve back into normally shaped skulls. As had happened with Cassie, of course, everyone's nose stayed a bit red afterward.   
  
"I see Fred and George have corrupted you," said Hermione as she picked up the box of chocolates and saw the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes logo on the bottom.   
  
"Completely corrupted. But let's face it. You all are too smart to eat anything they give you anymore. So I decided I'd have to do it. After all, if I had to be a reindeer, you should, too." Cassie reached out and ruffled George's hair this time. "Besides some of you look really good with antlers."   
  
Harry grinned. "It's a great treat, but I think you'd better put a warning on the package about being careful not to kiss someone else when you both have antlers. That really was not very fun."   
"Yeah! I'm sure you really suffered for those few minutes of being stuck to Ginny!" Fred grinned at his sister and her boyfriend, who both threw their chocolate wrappers at the twin in retribution for being a smart mouth. After a few more minutes' conversation about the joke shop and business, Harry stood up.   
  
"I'm beat and Ron and I haven't even started unpacking, not to mention enlarging the room and making me a bed, so I'm going to head upstairs. You coming, Ron?"   
  
"I guess so." The two boys left a minute later and George immediately stood up from the floor and sat next to Cassie, forcing Ginny to scoot into the spot vacated by Harry. She moved, but grinned saucily at George.   
  
"Don't let me get in your way."   
  
"I won't." His arm slipped around Cassie's shoulders and he pulled her close and kissed her on the temple. "You were brilliant, love."   
  
"Thanks." She smiled back at him, kissing him on the cheek. "I learned from the best." Ginny groaned and buried her face against the bed.   
  
"Two of them are bad enough - now we have a third trickster around here."   
  
Cassie laughed. "You flatter me. I am but a pale imitator of their skills."   
  
"Oh, I don't know about that, Cassie," Hermione said. "I read that note you sent to Harry today. It was a completely twin-like thing to do."   
  
"Not true. If they had sent it, it would have blown up after Harry read it." Everyone smiled although it was a bit less light-hearted than it would have been a few moments before. Hermione's mention of the note had reminded everyone of what was going on with the war. It was hard to be too jubilant when you thought about that.   
  
"How is Harry doing? I mean, really doing?" asked Fred, looking earnestly between Hermione and Ginny.   
  
Ginny sighed. "He's okay. He's under a lot of stress but he sort of accepts it now, doesn't fight it as much. It's like he knows what he has to do and is just trying to make sure he's around to do it."   
  
Hermione nodded. "He seems to be over the whole angry thing. He realizes that there is no one to blame for this mess -- not his parents, not Dumbledore, not Sirius -- except for Lord Voldemort and he wants to make sure he pays for it."   
  
They talked for quite a long while about Harry. Cassie occasionally thought about jumping in with some comment as she and Harry had talked in June about the prophesy and what it meant he had to do, but she never felt like the moment was right. After all, that had only been one night six months ago. Ginny and Hermione knew him a lot better and knew what he had been feeling recently, so she never did interrupt the flow of the conversation. She just let it wash over and around her, her fingers linked with George's in a silent gesture of comfort. And she wasn't sure whether she was the one being comforted.   
  
"I guess we'd better go, let you girls get your beauty sleep," Fred joked when Cassie's watch said 11:15. Hermione hit him with a pillow in retaliation but they were all very tired.   
  
George smiled and pulled Cassie close again, kissing her gently on the lips. "Not that you need it, of course." Ginny groaned again.   
  
"You two are sort of sickening."   
  
"Oh, yeah. And you and Harry never do anything mushy!" The look on Ginny's face was priceless -- like it had never dawned on her that before that second that she and Harry did the same sort of thing. She flushed slightly.   
  
"Well . . . you're right." Hermione looked between the three of them, a small frown between her eyes. The boys got up and left the room after another minute of discussion about what they would be doing the next morning. Cassie stretched, then hopped off Ginny's bed and did what she recognized as a silly little dance across the room to her trunk. They all started changing into their pyjamas quietly, having pretty well talked themselves out for the evening already. Cassie pulled George's shirt over her head without thinking about it but when she moved over to her bed, Hermione looked at her with a strange expression. "That's George's shirt - the one he wore at Hogsmeade."   
  
"Yeah. He gave it to me to wear at night while I'm here. It smells like him and helps me think of him all night long. Not like I need help, of course. And I have the most wonderful dreams with it on. Maybe he charmed it or something." She slipped under the warm blankets, kicking two of them off as she knew she'd be plenty warm without them. Hermione's expression formed more solidly into a frown. She looked over at Ginny, who was wearing that same green shirt of Harry's she had pilfered when she thought he was dead.   
  
"I'll be right back." The door closed with a click behind her before either of the younger girls could even say a word.   
  
"Where do you suppose she's going?" Cassie asked, hoping it wasn't to tell Molly about her wearing George's shirt. She didn't think Molly would like the idea much for some reason.   
  
"To see Ron. She's probably going to demand that he give her one of his shirts. Why should we have all the fun?" Both girls laughed at the imagined scene, with Hermione chewing Ron out for not volunteering a shirt earlier and his looking flummoxed as any shirt of his would completely drown her, nightshirt or not. "I think I'm going to go take a bath. Do you mind?"   
  
"Of course not. The bathtub is wonderful. By the way, I used some of your bubblebath. If you need me to buy some more for you, I will."   
  
"Don't be silly. Mum keeps me supplied and I'm sure she wouldn't want you to worry about it. Feel free to use as much as you want."  
  
"Thanks. But I have my own now."   
  
"Okay." Ginny left and about a moment later stuck her head back into the room.  
  
"Why?"   
  
"Uh, George brought it home for me. He made it himself."   
  
"Oh." She left again and then another moment passed before she stuck her head through the door again.   
  
"Why?"   
  
Cassie flushed a rather bright shade of red. "He . . . didn't, uh, the smell . . . it's your smell." Ginny looked at her strangely. Then comprehension dawned on her face like she had just cast a Lumos spell.   
  
"I see. He didn't like snogging someone who reminded him of his sister, huh?"  
  
"Something like that." Ginny winked at her.   
  
"So, what does the bubblebath smell like?"   
  
"My shampoo."   
  
"Okay." Ginny left again and this time it was an entire minute before she stuck her head into the doorway once again. "Your shampoo?" Cassie just shrugged.   
  
"It's what he wanted me to smell like, I guess." Ginny closed the door behind her one more time and although Cassie waited for a few minutes, she didn't come in again. Cassie decided to take advantage of these few quiet moments and write a letter home to her parents. When Tonks had mentioned them earlier that evening, she had felt guilt in her heart because she wasn't writing to them regularly. Yes, it was true that mail delivery was rather difficult, but still. They were her parents and her brothers and she was away from them and she should be homesick or something, not almost completely forgetting their existence during the day. And being busy was no excuse.   
  
She wrote an in-depth letter this time, explaining about what she was doing at the Burrow and how she was helping Molly out. She could freely discuss the magic this time and about how interesting it was to see it being used for everyday household work like cooking and cleaning. "Molly has done the laundry once since I've been here, but I missed being able to watch her. I'm sure she'll be doing it again tomorrow as everyone has dirty clothes from school. I intend to beg, if necessary, and I'll tell you what I find out. She doesn't have a machine, she says." She had just finished that sentence when the doorknob turned and Cassie looked up, expecting it to be Hermione. Instead, Ginny came in, her hair wrapped in a towel.   
  
"Hermione still isn't back?"   
  
"No, but it's only been a few minutes." Ginny looked at her strangely.  
  
"I've been in the tub at least a half hour and she was gone for a good 15 minutes before I got there." Cassie glanced at her watch and was amazed to see that she was right. It was after midnight.   
  
"I must have lost track of time. Where she could be?"   
  
"I don't know. I wonder if I should go check on her and Ron. I hate to interrupt them if they're kissing but . . . she may have fallen asleep or something."  
  
"You could be right." Just then the door opened and Hermione came in, walked to her bed, and climbed in. She wasn't holding a shirt and she didn't look like she had just come from a 45-minute snogging session.   
  
"Where's your shirt?" asked Ginny, apparently unembarrassed as she didn't even flush slightly.  
  
"What?"   
  
"Didn't you ask Ron for a shirt?"   
  
"No. Any shirt of Ron's would be way too big for me . . . unless I shrunk it of course. But no, I was talking to George."   
  
Cassie, who was still holding her quill above her letter home, dropped it and it made a big splotch across her signature. Ginny's mouth just dropped open. "George!" They both said at the same moment.   
  
"Yeah. George. I wanted to find out what his intentions were with Cassie." Hermione laid down and closed her eyes.   
  
"What are you talking about, Hermione?" Cassie didn't plan on letting that go by undiscussed. Hermione sat back up.  
  
"Well, I knew you liked him and he liked you, but when I saw you tonight, I realized that it went much deeper than simple infatuation, so I went to warn him off." Cassie sat straight up in bed and stared at Hermione.   
  
"Tell me you're kidding!" Ginny was looking equally murderous on Hermione's other side although Hermione just shrugged.  
  
"No. He didn't listen, though. He said that you two had something special together and that he didn't intend to give you up without a fight. I told him he was a goofball and totally unable to handle the difficulties this so-called relationship was going to cause you. He admitted that he has been a goofball but insisted that he knew how to be serious when he needed to. Not that I believe him, of course." Hermione's lips pursed together in obvious distaste. "I warned him that you are still very young and in way over your head with the magic and everything and that it's not fair to you to expect you to just give up your whole life to be with him." She sighed. "He had to agree, but said that as long as you wanted to, it was your choice. I told him that you are too young to know what you want."   
  
"Gee, thanks, Mum. I'm glad your years of experience can be useful to me now." Cassie was torn between walking over and strangling her with her bare hands or begging Ginny to do the Bat-Bogey hex on her. She felt angry enough right now to do the Cruciatus curse on Hermione and wondered vaguely if she picked up her wand and said the words if anything would happen.   
  
"Hermione! You had no right to do anything like that, you aren't her mother!" Ginny was screeching from her bed.   
  
"Well, no. But someone has to watch out for her best interests."  
  
"George is not a goofball," Cassie said, very slowly, emphasizing each word. "He does have a good sense of humor, but he . . ."   
  
"Look. I like Fred and George a lot. But that doesn't mean you two are right together. I mean, he likes to play his way through life, not deal with the hard issues that . . ." Cassie cut her off.   
  
"I think it's up to George and me to decide whether we are right together, not you. And if it doesn't work out, well . . . I can handle it."   
  
"And you're so good at just turning off your emotions!" Hermione threw back at her. Cassie's eyes locked onto hers.   
  
"What do you mean?"   
  
"Who was the one who held you when you cried over Harry last summer? Who saw how it broke your heart? That's right, me! You could fool him, but I heard you cry that night at Hogwarts over him again and I knew that it was killing you to leave him. I just don't want to see you get hurt again, okay?" Cassie stared at her for a long moment in utter shock and then turned her head to see Ginny, who was sitting white-faced on her own bed staring at Hermione. "Oh, Ginny!" It was like Hermione had just been slapped. "I'm sorry! I should have . . . not said that. I should have said it differently! I just . . . I didn't think about how that sounded!"   
  
No one said anything for a long moment. Finally, Ginny took a deep breath and hitched up her chin. "I knew it wasn't quite as friendly as they made it sound. I mean, who could really give up on Harry that easily? It took me years. And when Harry told me that it was because of the magic, I knew that wasn't really true, either." She looked at Cassie and the emptiness in her eyes scared her. "Do you still love him? Because if you do, I could . . . "  
  
"No! Oh, Ginny! I . . . Leaving him broke my heart, but I knew it was what had to be done and if things were to happen again the same way, knowing what I do now, I'd do the same thing again. Really. And what I feel about George is a lot deeper than what I felt for Harry because I've known the real him for the whole time. I only knew Harry was a wizard for two days before I went back home." Another long moment passed in complete silence. "Ginny. Do you believe me?"   
  
"I think so. I . . . want to."   
  
"You should, Ginny. Harry has never been happier in his whole life than he has been this last six months with you. You are . . . his whole world, now." Hermione was visibly trembling, her earlier complacency over what she had done completely forgotten. "I'm so sorry I brought that up. I shouldn't have. It's all in the past." Ginny lay down, staring up at the ceiling and Cassie did the same. Hermione did, too, after a moment; and then she extinguished the lamps with a quiet "Nox."   
  
It was five minutes before Ginny spoke. "I've been meaning to ask you, Cassie. I didn't want to embarrass you in front of everyone else. But, why did you take down all my pictures of Harry?"


	55. Bill

A/N: Many people have asked me how much longer the story is going to go. I hope no one will mind when I say we still have quite a while-possibly as long as 20 chapters. The story is moving along quite quickly at this point, but there is a lot more that needs to be discovered.

Chapter 55  
Bill  
  
Cassie looked at Ginny with confusion. "Uh . . . I didn't want his picture looking at me and smiling while I was undressed, obviously. I didn't know if you'd charmed them or what. I changed in the bathroom the first couple of times, but that got old rather quickly." Both Ginny and Hermione laughed and the feeling of nervous dread in Cassie's stomach retreated. "You can't blame me, really, can you?"   
  
"No. I guess I'd be the same way if I wasn't used to them moving and smiling. But, can I put a few of them up again tomorrow?"   
  
"Yeah. As long as they're charmed like the ones at Hogwarts."   
  
"All right. It's a deal, then. I'll just put a few over here on this side of the room so they don't bother you."   
  
"Ginny, I . . ."   
  
"Yeah?" Cassie's stomach clenched. She hated to bring this up again but she wanted to get the matter resolved permanently. So that Ginny knew the truth.   
  
"I knew that you and Harry belonged together when he talked about you long before I ever met you. He loved you then even though he didn't know it himself. That's why I told him we could just be friends. So, even though I know this is hard, please believe me when I tell you that I don't feel that way about Harry any more, and he never felt that way about me. Never. Hermione knows I'm telling the truth."   
  
"She is, Ginny. And that's why I'm worried about this whole -"   
  
"Don't start, Hermione. It is not the same at all, not at all." Cassie cut her off before she could even finish the thought. George was a wizard. Other than that, he and Harry had nothing in common.   
  
"If you say so." Hermione sounded very doubtful but she was willing to drop the subject and after a few minutes, both girls' even breathing told Cassie that they had gone to sleep. She lay staring into the darkness for a few minutes, then reached over to the night stand by her bed where she had moved all her belongings earlier. In the drawer was the Falcons sticker and right now she needed it. She picked it up and cradled it in her hands, hoping desperately for the slight warmth that indicated George was touching his. But when she fell asleep, it was still cold.   
  
She supposed it was the stress of the night before, but Cassie did not wake up at her usual time. In fact, judging by the sunlight flooding the room, it was possible that George had already left work. Cassie hopped up and grabbed her clothes. She needed to shower and comb her hair, not to mention brush her teeth, but she wanted to see him worse than any of that. Still barefoot, she ran into the hall, thinking that if she just made a quick dash into the bathroom to brush her teeth, then if by chance he was still here she could at least kiss him good-bye. When she saw the line at the door, though, she bit her lip. Hermione was there along with Ginny and Harry. Cassie thought it must be Ron currently using the shower and decided that she didn't want to wait for them to all move, so she just ran down one flight of stairs and tried to hear if George and Fred were still in the kitchen. At first she didn't hear anything, then his smiling face popped into the stairwell, looking up at her. "Hey, sleepyhead. I thought I wouldn't get to see you this morning."   
  
"I'm sorry. I didn't wake up and I forgot to set my alarm and . . ." He climbed up the stairs to her landing and wrapped her in his arms. She buried her face against his chest unsure whether to kiss him or not. He kissed the top of her head.   
  
"Don't worry about it. I was up late last night, too. This girl knocked on my door and I was so hopeful it was you, but it wasn't."   
  
"You didn't know it was a girl, though, before you opened it."  
  
"Yes, I did."  
  
"How could you have possibly known that?"  
  
"Because the stairs between our two floors squeak and when it's Ron or Harry, I hear their big clunking footsteps the whole way down to our door. So, I heard the squeaky step and knew someone was coming up from Ginny's room."   
  
"You're pretty smart, aren't you?" she teased him, tightening her hold on him for a minute.   
  
"Maybe not." His voice was more serious than it had been so far.  
  
"You aren't listening to what Hermione said last night, are you?"  
  
"Well, I-"  
  
"George! Come eat!" Mrs. Weasley's voice came up the steps toward them.  
  
He grinned at her. "Come and have breakfast with me." Cassie sighed.   
  
"I need to wait in line for the bathroom. It's popular this morning."   
  
"Get used to it." He lifted her chin and then lightly kissed her lips. Cassie drew back quickly, embarrassed. "Take your baths at night like you were, that always helps make things move faster in the morning." He kissed her again. "I'd better get down there. Hurry, okay?"   
  
Cassie ran back up to the floor and was pleased to see that only Ginny was still waiting. She grabbed her bag out of the bedroom and stood next to her for a few minutes. "How have you been doing your hair without me to help you, Cassie? I mean, George hasn't been drying it or curling it for you, has he?" Cassie laughed.   
  
"No. I once even hinted at it, but he stubbornly refused to bite. I've just braided it or curled it or worn it straight. Since I haven't had to worry about anyone else wondering why it isn't done, it's not that big of a deal." Harry emerged from the bathroom a second later, hair damp with water still clinging to his face. Ginny laughed at him softly.   
  
"I appreciate your hurrying," and she darted into the bathroom. Harry smiled at Cassie.   
  
"How are things going?"   
  
"Okay, I guess. I mean, for me. Everything else seems to be in a bit of a muddle with everyone having to hide from the police and stuff." After a few more moments of awkward conversation, Harry climbed up the steps and Cassie smiled to herself as she heard heavy footsteps that went up for quite a long while. George was right that he could never miss Ron or Harry descending the stairs.   
  
Breakfast was even more chaotic this morning than usual, partly because of the extra bodies, partly because of Arthur reading articles out loud from the Daily Prophet, partly because of Molly fussing over everyone and trying to get them to eat more. Cassie listened with interest to the article Arthur was reading even though everyone else was talking.   
  
Order of the Phoenix Members Pursued. Yesterday, orders were sent to apprehend known and suspected members Albus Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix, a secret organization supposedly existing to fight You-Know-Who. However, with the recent assassination attempt upon Cornelius Fudge by Dumbledore and his werewolf associate, Remus Lupin, Ministry authorities have questioned the real purposes of this organization. For this reason, arrest warrants were issued for Albus Dumbledore, Remus Lupin, Hestia Jones, Nymphadora Tonks, Arthur Weasley, Molly Weasley, and Bill Weasley. In a surprising move, the Ministry also issued an arrest warrant for Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived (Please see accompanying story on page 3). Potter, who is still a student at Hogwarts, has been known to accompany Dumbledore and other members of the Order of the Phoenix when confronting people they claimed were You-Know-Who's Death Eaters. Attempts were made to arrest Potter yesterday when the Hogwarts Express arrived in London, but Potter apparently was not on the train. Aurors were sent to Hogwarts to take Potter into custody, but he had already left the school grounds. His whereabouts are currently not known." Arthur looked up with a disgusted expression. "Well it goes on from there, but it doesn't say much. This is a real mess."   
  
All too soon for Cassie's liking, George and Fred got ready to leave for work. Cassie knew they had to go, but she was really nervous that they might be arrested. After all, Aurors seemed to be on the hunt for all the other Weasleys. Maybe they would decide that it was just prudent to arrest George and Fred first. George must have been able to sense her concern, because he led her from the kitchen into the living room with a gentle hand on her arm. "What's wrong? You look worried."   
  
"I'm afraid they're going to try to arrest you."   
  
"You don't need to worry. We've got some contingency plans." But despite that, he did actually look concerned, biting on his lip. Cassie didn't think he knew he was doing it.  
  
"Can't you just shut down the shop?" Cassie tried hard not to sound whiney.   
  
"We would if it was just a question of the Galleons. Because, I mean, Fred and I are greedy but we're not stupid." He tried to smile, chucking her softly under the chin. "But . . . realistically, someone needs to be finding out what's going on and it basically has to be us." They both smiled bravely at each other and then they kissed in a sort of frenzied abandon that made her wonder in some rational corner of her mind if he thought it might be the last time. No, she told herself, no. She would not allow herself to think that, not even let that thought cross her brain. She heard a click but ignored it, putting all of her energy and thought into kissing George. He was the one who pulled away and turned toward the door, now open and occupied by someone. Someone who was staring at the two of them in complete surprise. "Hiya, Harry. Did you need something?"   
  
"No, no. I just, well, Fred was ready to go and thought you'd gone back upstairs, but I . . ." His voice trailed off miserably in embarrassment. Cassie smiled warmly at him, trying to tell him silently that he shouldn't be worried about interrupting them.   
  
"I guess you'd better go. Be careful, okay?"   
  
"Always." George went back into the kitchen and a second later, Cassie heard the distinctive pops that told her the twins had left.   
  
"I'm sorry, Cassie. I didn't expect for you . . . I didn't know about the two of you." He finished bravely, meeting her eyes.   
  
"Well, we kind of kept things quiet when I was at school, as we were supposed to be cousins and all. And, honestly, I wasn't sure if he would even really like me once he knew I was a Muggle and everything." Cassie looked at him and smiled. "We better get back in there, I guess. Ginny will miss you." Harry nodded vaguely and they both went into the kitchen. Cassie looked with amazement at the crowd. There were even more people in here than there had been before. Tonks was back, looking quite distressed, and Bill Weasley was there having an argument with Molly.   
  
Cassie moved over to the table and started getting the dishes cleared off. Everyone else seemed to be paying attention to the newspaper or one argument or another and Cassie thought it might help if they had a clear spot to work. Molly absentmindedly started helping her, even though she was still arguing with Bill. It had something to do with Fleur, that much she understood. Ginny and Hermione were talking to Tonks, who was gesticulating wildly and Ron was joining in with Bill. Cassie had absolutely no idea what was going on and didn't say anything until Bill said, "I just wish we could get a hold of the Muggle newspapers today. They're bound to have the story and I really want to know how badly we've been compromised." He looked around and saw Cassie, blinking mildly in surprise and Cassie thought that she probably looked a lot different than when he had first seen her and she smiled brightly at him. "Hi. I could go get some newspapers in the village."   
  
"Are you insane?" everyone in the room yelled at once.   
  
"I'll go," said Ginny and the yelling was repeated. But despite all of the yelling, it was eventually decided that the three young witches would walk to the village and buy several Muggle newspapers: Cassie because she had the Muggle money and she refused to give it to anyone else, which she knew was selfish, but no one argued too hard; Ginny and Hermione to protect her. No one looked very excited about their little trip except for the girls themselves. The weather was miserable, drizzly cold rain soaked through even Cassie's winter robes within the first few feet. She smiled to herself as they trooped down the road, thinking that if she and Molly had looked strange when they had walked a few days ago, the three of them would look positively bizarre. All three of them out in the soaking rain wearing rather odd looking cloaks. She glanced over at the other girls and stopped in exasperation.   
  
"What are you two doing?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked, looking genuinely bewildered.   
  
"I'm wet. You're not. No one would believe in town that I was the only one who got rained on today. Not in this weather." Hermione looked sheepish but Ginny shook her head.  
  
"I'm not taking my charm off- not till we get closer. It'll be too cold." Cassie pursed her lips together.   
  
"And did you even think of offering me one?" The girls looked embarrassed.   
  
"I forgot you couldn't do it yourself." Hermione said, and Cassie wasn't sure whether to be flattered or annoyed. The walk to town was mostly silent because it was too difficult to talk as they concentrated on trying not to let their teeth chatter. Occasionally Cassie would hear groaning from one or the other of them that they shouldn't have walked, but since apparating was not an option for either Ginny or Cassie, no portkey was available, and certainly neither Hermione nor Cassie was going to fly closer to town, walking was the only real possibility. But by the time they got to the village, they were all grateful to be there. The rain had stopped, but it was still very cold, especially now they were all wearing wet cloaks.   
  
They entered the village and walked up the main road. When they got to the store Cassie and Molly had shopped at, Hermione suggested they go in there to buy the newspapers.  
  
"Uh, no. We'd better find another place. That's where Molly and I shopped a few days ago. I think they'll remember me."  
  
"Oh," Ginny blushed. "Was it too horrible?'   
  
"No. She was okay, really. A few funny looks, but nothing too strange. She did make a bit of a fuss over my paper money and was ecstatic over the extension cords, but it wasn't too bad. I just don't want to take a chance that they'll even think of her by seeing me, when her picture is possibly in all the newspapers."   
  
They all agreed and continued on down the street, looking for a likely-looking shop. As they were approaching a tobacco and magazine shop, Cassie noticed three teenage boys staring at them. She felt self-conscious because of the heavy, witch-looking cloaks. However, she soon realized the boys were more interested in the girls under the cloaks than the cloaks themselves. As the girls entered the shop, the three boys followed, staying at a distance, but smiling and winking whenever the girls looked over at them. Ginny glanced over and then giggled. "I think they're flirting with us. Harry was never good at flirting. What about Ron, Hermione?"   
  
Cassie glanced around, hoping no one had heard her. "Shh. Don't mention any names." The boys had obviously not heard Ginny, but were aware she was talking about them and had assumed they were making a good impression. Unfortunately for them, they were not making a good impression with Hermione, who was not as flattered by their attention as Ginny was.   
  
"Cassie's right, Ginny. Besides, I believe you already have a boyfriend." She reached into her cloak pocket and Cassie whispered frantically at her.  
  
"Hermione, don't pull your wand out." Hermione rolled her eyes and pulled out a tissue to wipe her nose.  
  
They made their way to the newspaper racks where, to their dismay, the news that the police were after a group of terrorists was the headline news in several of the papers on the racks. Cassie picked out several, both she and Hermione smirking as she passed up the copy of The Sun. Cassie could see the boys still hanging around nearby and felt uncomfortable. It was a long walk back to the Burrow and they could certainly not be followed. "Let's read the papers here for a few minutes. Maybe they'll lose interest."   
  
The three girls quietly perused the newspapers until Hermione loudly exclaimed, "Oh, bloody hell!" The other two girls looked up in shock and Ginny grinned. "Hermione, you've been hanging around Ron too much. You're starting to talk like him:" Hermione blushed, but just shoved her paper in front of Ginny's face. Ginny quickly scanned the paper and then practically yelled, "Oh, bloody hell! How did they get all of that information about Harry?" Several people turned around and stared at the girls, while the boys laughed. Cassie muttered under her breath, grabbed the newspapers from the other two, pulled them to the counter, paid for the papers and the three quickly exited the shop - followed closely behind by the boys. They had actually made more of a spectacle of themselves by hanging around then they would have otherwise. Fortunately, the boys lost interest as they started down the road, so no hexes or obliviating charms were necessary after all.   
  
They walked much more quickly back to the Burrow than they had before because now they had a reason to get there as soon as possible. The wintry sun was now shining and the walk was much more pleasant, but Cassie knew that the weather was the last thing on her mind and assumed the other two felt the same. Cassie didn't know what the article contained that had gotten both Ginny and Hermione so upset, but it was obvious that whatever it was, it had something to do with Harry.   
  
Back at the Burrow, chaos was still the order of the day. Bill was still there and when the girls put their cloaks away, Harry told them that he had come to stay. "Is that why they were arguing earlier?" Cassie asked, indicating Molly with her hand.   
  
"Sort of. Molly was angry that he didn't come here immediately rather than go to Fleur's. He was almost caught this morning. I can't really tell whether she's angrier that he was at Fleur's all night or that he was almost arrested."   
  
"It's probably equal," Ginny shrugged. "It's not like they were doing anything obscene. She has roommates. He probably just slept on the couch."   
  
"Yeah. Through all the yelling, I could tell that was his argument. But she insisted that for appearance's sake, he should not be sleeping at his fiancee's house."   
  
"Well, it's good to know she's got her priorities in order," Ron said, poking his head into the room. "Never mind that he's was almost arrested. By the way, Cassie, we filled him in on everything about you."   
  
Cassie shook her head. "I bet that was boring."   
  
"Uh, not really. He said his boss was acting strange yesterday. He's trying to find a picture of him."   
  
"His boss?"  
  
"Yeah. Some old wizard - I don't remember his name." Ginny looked strangely at Ron.   
  
"I thought all Bill's bosses were goblins?"  
  
"All but one, I guess. Don't ask me. Come on, let's go downstairs." The older wizards had opened the Muggle newspapers and were reading them in complete silence. Judging by the looks on their faces, Hermione's and Ginny's earlier cussing was well warranted.   
  
Arthur stood up with a concerned look at Harry. "Uh, Harry, my boy, I'm afraid . . ." and he held out the paper. Apparently, because Harry was raised with his Muggle aunt and uncle, finding out information about him was a lot easier for the reporters in the national news service than finding out about the other "terrorists" who had nothing about them anywhere in the usual spots. But Harry had gone to Muggle school, gone to Muggle doctors, and even held down a Muggle job two summers ago. He had a Muggle history, and most of it was splashed over the pages of these newspapers with accompanying photos. Harry read with a solemn expression, upset but hardly hysterical. He laughed at one point when the reporter quoted "prominent businessman Vernon Dursley, who insisted that "The Boy" was a poor relative that they had to take in for pure Christian charity and that they had known he was rotten since the first moment they laid eyes on him. Dudley had also apparently been interviewed, but his statement was so strange that very little of it was quoted although the photograph of him trying to hide behind his bony mother made Harry laugh particularly hard. He said it was because of the fact that he was holding his extremely fat rear end like he was trying to protect it, but Cassie really didn't know why that was so funny. Neighbors were quoted as saying that Harry was a strange boy, always wearing nasty baggy clothing and worn-out shoes, with messy hair and weird pets. Most of them said it was a well-known fact that he was attending St. Brutus' because he was a juvenile delinquent in the making. Someone had tracked down a representative of the actual St. Brutus' who insisted that no Harry Potter currently attended or ever had attended their school, but the reported surmised that the school was just hiding something. What made everyone curse, Cassie surmised, was the fact that there was a very clear picture of Harry with his scar plainly visible. "Bloody Hell!" Ron said when he saw it, and everyone shook their heads as the three young girls broke into laughing fits.   
  
Bill came in during this and motioned to Cassie, who approached him with some trepidation. "My boss kept dropping into my office yesterday. I thought that was odd, but when I said I needed to go somewhere and he refused to let me, I realized he was trying to keep track of me. Fortunately, none of the goblins like him, so one of them brought me the news before it was official so I could get away. He obviously knew I was going to be looked for, and I just thought . . . well, I thought maybe he was there that night."   
  
"Makes sense, I guess. Did you find a picture?" Bill laid a grainy wizard picture on the table in front of her and she bent over to get a closer look. "I can't tell. Could we find a better one?"   
  
"Sorry. But maybe I can enhance it. I'll be back in a few minutes." Cassie was nervous for some reason. She really hated this. Not that she had any sympathy for the people at that meeting but she hated shattering other people's perceptions of other wizards they knew. She remembered the look in Remus' eye when she had mentioned Sootspinner and she didn't ever want to see that look again. She realized this would not be the case here. It was obvious Bill was not having any crisis of conscience. In fact, it sounded like he would almost be relieved to expose him as a creep.   
Ten minutes later, Bill got his wish. The picture he brought back was larger, clearer, and brighter and Cassie could recognize the face. She wasn't sure what it was, something about the shape of the nose, but he had definitely been there that night. No question about it at all, and she told Bill so. As she suspected, there was a look of quiet triumph in his eyes. "Caedman Grimwood. If he's involved, that cannot be good. Dad, we need to get a hold of Dumbledore immediately. Grimwood must be helping with the finances of this little operation." Arthur asked Cassie if she was positive about her identification and her brief nod set his face into a grim expression.   
  
"All right. Albus will undoubtedly want to ask you both some questions. Bill, is there anyone you trust at the bank, implicitly, with your life?" Cassie didn't hear his response as they turned away and lowered their voices in the instinctive way those who plot schemes don't have to be told to.   
  
Lunch was a quiet affair; no one was in the mood to talk very much. Professor Dumbledore came the cleanup was ending and Cassie reconfirmed her identification. He also looked over the newspaper articles and then looked at Harry. They went off to have some sort of an impromptu meeting and Cassie spent the afternoon alternating between wrapping Christmas presents and staring at the Weasley clock where George and Fred's hands stayed stubbornly on "Working" even though she was positive that at least a month had passed since they had disapparated that morning.   
  
There was one bright spot in the otherwise rather dreary afternoon. Ginny was the first to notice an owl sitting patiently at the kitchen window. It was a large, well-groomed owl which Arthur, immediately identified as one of the Ministry's owls. He hesitated for a moment, unsure of why it was there, and then opened the window. The owl entered, delivered a very important-looking letter, and then left. The others gathered around as Arthur inspected the creamy parchment.  
  
"It's from Nicholas Nightscall." He tore open the seal and opened the parchment, his eyes quickly scanning the letter. The expression on his face relaxed as he read the letter and, by the end of it, he even had the beginnings of a smile. Molly and the others questioned and coaxed until he read it out for everyone to hear.   
  
Arthur,  
  
I wanted to write you a letter to express my support at this difficult time. I understand you have taken an extended leave of absence and, obviously, understand your decision. This is, of course, all off the record and I would have to deny it if questioned by certain groups. Yesterday was a difficult day for all of us. I realize you and Molly, are friends of Albus Dumbledore. I too consider myself a friend of Dumbledore's and hope he would say the same about me. I personally trust him and believe he is doing what's right for the wizarding world.   
  
You and I have some very important things in common. We are both dedicated to doing what is right for the Ministry and the wizarding world, and our daughters are even roommates at Hogwarts and I know that Saffron thinks a great deal of Ginny. Because of that, I have also argued hard that you can be trusted to anyone that will listen. Unfortunately, there are some within the Ministry who feel differently after that vicious attack on Cornelius. This explains the warrants for yours' and others' arrests yesterday. Again, I was and still am very uncomfortable with the approach and said so repeatedly. Please rest assured that I am working hard to get this horrible wrong corrected and will not stop until it is. I believe everything will work out very soon. In the meantime, I have authorized your extended leave of absence to be a paid leave of absence. This is the least I can do under the circumstances. Please do not hesitate to contact me if there is anything I can do for you or your family.   
  
Nicholas Nightscall  
  
This news really helped cheer everyone up as it assured them that despite the Ministry's many problems, at least the man in charge was on their side. Cassie just hoped that he was right when he said that it would be over soon.   
  
Cassie helped Molly fix yet another huge meal that night and the table was set now for 11, Bill joining their group for the foreseeable future. Nothing could be done at the bank this weekend but as far as Cassie could tell, some sort of plan was in place for Monday morning that would hopefully allow the newly-discovered conspirator to give away even more of his comrades. Dinner was a startling contrast to lunch because George and Fred kept everyone laughing as they recounted stories of the day. Cassie relaxed as she sat near him and felt his warmth reaching out to her and everyone else in the room. It was a gift, really, to be able to cheer people up to that extent. Hermione may call him a goofball, but Cassie didn't believe it for a moment.   
  
After dinner and dishes, Molly and Arthur, Remus, Tonks, Professor Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall all had a meeting in the living room, which forced the others up to the girls' room for the evening. It had been interesting seeing Professor McGonagall again when she had arrived before they had all retreated.   
  
"Good evening, students. Miss . . . uh, Robinson."  
  
"Hello, Professor." Cassie shifted uncomfortably on the chair and then stood to show her respect.   
"I understand that you hoodwinked me."   
  
"I'm afraid so. I had to, you see."   
  
"Yes. And I must say, I would love to hear how you did it. I've rarely seen such clean transfigurations from a 6th year student. When the Headmaster told me you were a Muggle, I refused to believe it, but he assured me that it's true."   
  
"Yes, I am. But I couldn't tell you what I did. It might cause problems for other people, Professor. "  
  
"No, of course not. Perhaps some other time." She went into the living room with the others, shaking her head in amazement.   
  
Ron and Harry brought some games in and George and Fred showed them prototypes of a new line of toys they were developing. It was a fun evening of laughter and joking, working really hard to pretend that there was not an extremely important meeting going on downstairs. After a good round of Exploding Snap, Cassie relaxed on her bed as the others played Gobstones. The rules to that game were absolutely beyond her comprehension, but it was interesting to watch. Ron challenged Harry to a game of chess. Harry reluctantly agreed and pulled out his now extremely worn copy of the chess strategy book Cassie had given him and she smiled in contrast to Ron's scowl. Cassie watched them play for a few minutes as did everyone else. Harry had improved quite a bit and kept referring to the book as he made his moves. She didn't think anything about it when George picked up the book from where Harry had put it down after his last turn. She didn't think anything about it as he flipped through it, studying the pages where it fell open naturally where Harry had damaged the spine. She didn't even think that much about it when he opened the front cover and started reading the inscription. She remembered it well and she smiled as she remembered how nervous she had been as she wrote it.   
  
Dear Harry, This is an inadequate thank you for the telescope but there is not much I could give you that would be an adequate one. And this is also a thank you for being my friend. So, it is inadequate on both counts, but I hope that you will use it often and think of me and remember how much you mean to me. I don't know all your big secrets but I do know some things about you. You are wonderful! I don't think people tell you that often enough. Every time you read this note, though, you'll remember that I know it and maybe someday you can find that out for yourself. Please don't forget me. I know I'll never forget you or the time that we've had together.  
Love always,  
Cassie   
  
At the time, she had had a horrible crush on him, loved him really. Fortunately, she hadn't confessed how much in the note as by the time he actually read it, her feelings had shifted a little and she was glad that her words were fairly tame. It was only as she studied George's face which was progressively getting redder as he read and re-read the note that she realized something was horribly wrong. He looked up at her and all the soft humor that she was so used to seeing in his expression was absent. "What the hell is this?" 


	56. Arguing and Making Up

Chapter 56  
Arguing and Making Up  
  
All eyes turned to George and then followed his stare to Cassie. Cassie flushed a deep red and felt sick to her stomach. She looked at George with a shocked expression and didn't know what to say. "I wrote that this summer. A long time before I met you."   
  
"What do you mean, this summer?"   
  
Cassie tilted her head toward him. "This summer, in London? When Harry was in hiding? Remember?"   
  
"I remember Harry being in hiding, I don't know what this has to do with it."   
  
"That's how I met him. When I met him. He was in hiding, pretending to be a Muggle and we met and . . .got to be friends." George's eyes narrowed even further.   
  
"This sounds like you were more than friends." Cassie scowled.   
  
"We dated, if you want to know the truth, although it wasn't for long."   
  
"Dated?!!!"   
  
"Well, yes. But you know about that, don't you? I mean, surely Harry mentioned me at one point or another."  
  
George stared at her a moment and answered icily, "No. He never mentioned knowing you or dating you." Cassie stared back at him in shock, and finally turned and stared at Harry who was now standing up giving both of them an uncomfortable look.  
  
"You never even mentioned me once? You . . . you didn't say anything about me?" She whirled on George, her frustration at the situation coming out in her voice, which was rather louder than she intended. "Didn't you ever wonder about how this all started?"   
  
"Yes, I did . . . and you kept changing the subject." George folded his arms and glared at her. Cassie drew her brows down into a frown.   
  
"That is not true at all! I told you I had to come because I was trapped in Harry's house. I just figured you knew about all the other stuff. That's why I didn't explain."   
  
"That's right!" George said, tapping his finger on his chin as he thought about it. "You did say that!" He didn't sound appeased. "You were trapped at Harry's house? How did this all happen?"   
  
"Certainly someone told you about that day?!"  
  
"No. Not that I can remember. And I'm pretty sure I would!"  
  
"Well, didn't you ever wonder - about me! I mean, how a regular Muggle girl wound up in Diagon Alley with a . . . a werewolf and your DAD!" Cassie was standing nose to nose now with George, her finger poking him in the chest.   
  
"I . . .I. You should have told me! I think I had a right to know about it!"   
  
"Yeah, you could be right but I stupidly expected that Harry would have talked about me, or someone would have! I can't really be blamed for what he did or didn't do, now can I? You'd have to ask him why he never mentioned me!" Cassie said, completely forgetting that the wizard in question was standing only 10 feet from her the entire time.   
  
Out of the corner of her eye, Cassie could see Harry moving his mouth, but nothing came out. Ginny, who had also stood up, made some sort of unintelligible squeak. Hermione said soothingly, "Cassie, he's a boy. You know how boys are. They don't talk about people or things the way girls do."   
  
She finally turned to face the others, who were all looking with various degrees of shock at the two of them. "I have to admit I'm amazed that no one ever mentioned my name over the entire summer. It's good to know you all missed me so much!" Cassie's heart was pounding at the stress of the situation and her feelings were hurt more than she would really want to admit. She had pined for all of them all summer long and it had taken a long time to pull herself out of her depression - and they were all just going on like she had never existed.   
  
"It's not like that, Cassie. We did miss you, well, thought about you, but you have to admit . . . that we weren't really good friends yet. That was really-" Cassie pulled back like she'd been slapped before Harry spoke up.  
  
"That's not true. I thought about you a lot. I wrote you and everything. I'm the one that sent Lupin to find out what was wrong!" He glared over at Ron as he said this and Hermione elbowed her red-head boyfriend in the stomach.   
  
"I thought so!" George looked triumphantly between Harry and Cassie. "It was still going on all summer."  
  
"It - whatever you want to call it - was over, George, long before I met you! Or are you accusing Harry of two-timing your sister!" Cassie turned her attention back to George. He looked like he hadn't considered that.   
  
"Well, fine then. Even if it was over before the summer, exactly how close of friends were you?" His insinuation made color creep up Cassie's cheeks and she felt like kicking him.   
  
"Are you implying something? Because we're all adults here, George! You can say the word, if that's what you really want to know!"   
  
Harry spoke up this time and Cassie was so focused on what he said and George's reaction that she only noticed later that the other four had left the room and closed the door behind them. "George, I don't like what you're saying about Cassie. It's true that we dated and we were really good friends, but we were always under control!"   
  
"Sure. Sure." George pulled back from them a small distance. "So you kissed?"  
  
"Well, of course we kissed." Cassie bit into the silence.   
  
"And how often and how deeply?"   
  
"George!" Harry looked genuinely shocked. "I don't think Cassie owes you any sort of account like she was doing something wrong!"   
  
"And you let him touch you?"   
  
Cassie glared at him again. "We held hands, we hugged. We didn't do anything more than that. Look, George." She was speaking quietly now, feeling like this argument was getting out of hand and wanting desperately to regain some control of her anger. "I don't understand what the problem is. I really don't. Did you think you were the first guy I ever dated?"   
  
"No . . .although I didn't realize that you'd ever gotten serious with anyone before." His glanced between the two of them again, and they were standing next to each other and from the look on his face, Cassie realized this made it look like they were both united against him.   
  
"Is that what's really bothering you? Or is it that it's someone you know?" She had scored a direct hit with that one she could tell.   
  
"That doesn't help. Now every time I see you talking to him, I'm not going to be able to keep the picture of you giving each other tonsillectomies out of my head!" The gasp through the door into the complete shocked silence inside the bedroom made Cassie realize that the other four were listening. George apparently realized the same thing because he immediately put a locking and silencing spell on the door.   
  
"George Weasley!" Harry's voice was low and controlled, but Cassie saw the barely leashed anger through it and hoped they didn't start hexing each other. That would not be good. "You owe Cassie an apology! We never kissed like that ever -" There was a momentary pause "-And I'm not sure I can say that about you two! I saw you this morning, you know!" Suddenly, the tenor of the argument changed and the two boys faced each other, essentially leaving Cassie out of the discussion.   
  
"Well, Potter! If I had known I was encroaching on your territory, I would have asked for your permission before kissing her."  
  
"That isn't fair to either Ginny or Cassie, George. They both trust the two of us, although at the moment, I'm wondering why!"  
  
"So, is it just Ginny that's keeping you two from getting back together?" His words were quiet but they were cutting and Cassie had the strange sensation of feeling all the blood draining out of her head. She couldn't believe this was really happening.   
  
"No. No, not at all. I love Ginny and I get the distinct impression that Cassie likes you, at least a little bit. Which actually brings up another point." Harry glanced over at Cassie, who sat down on the nearest bed heavily and tried not scream. "What exactly are your intentions concerning her?"  
  
"Oh. My. God." Cassie said, staring at them.  
  
"What are you on about, Potter?"  
  
"I mean exactly what I said! What are you doing with her?"   
  
"I'm dating her - a concept you are apparently very familiar with!"   
  
"George Weasley! Let me out of this room! I will not stay here and listen to this for one moment longer!"   
  
"No. Stay." And he turned back to Harry, whose arms were now folded as he glared at the twin.   
  
"What are your long term plans! She's very sensitive, you know! I will not allow her to be hurt!"   
"You will not allow it? You don't have any say about this at all - unless of course there is still something between the two of you that you don't want to admit."   
  
"This, what's this? I don't have any say in what? That's exactly what I want to know!"   
  
"Harry! Open this stupid door! I am so out of here!" Harry waved his wand, still yelling at George, and Cassie pulled the knob and stepped out into the hall. She could feel the tears starting to stream down her cheeks and that made her even more angry. She raised her head to see four curious faces staring at her. Fred was looking at her with such concern that she wanted to go punch him, just for looking so much like George and not being George.   
  
"Where are you going?"   
  
"I don't want to be around him any longer. He's being rude and ridiculous. You heard what he said, I guess."  
  
"It's getting worse, then?"   
  
"Yeah, now Harry is telling George off for . . . I don't know. Being with me, I guess."   
  
"Bet that's going over well. But where are you going?"   
  
"Anywhere. It doesn't matter. Away. Maybe a walk."   
  
Ginny spoke up, "It's your room. You don't have to leave; they should."  
  
Cassie looked at her for a minute. "You think so? Yeah, I guess you're right. It is my room while I'm here."  
  
They hadn't re-locked the door, apparently too engrossed in the argument to pay attention to such mundane matters. Cassie opened the door to hear George and Harry still going at it. She entered, and could feel all eight eyes from out in the hall following her. George apparently was responding to Harry as he was standing only inches and was towering over him. "It isn't up to you to lecture me on what Cassie and I do in private. Hey, mate, I don't ask you what you do with my little sister; you don't need to ask me what I do with Cassie."  
  
Cassie gasped in shock and anger and could hear Ginny do the same behind her. She didn't know for sure what they were talking about, but it was obvious she was the subject. To make matters worse, they were acting like she was a piece of meat or some other inanimate object. She was so angry she didn't know whether to cry, scream, or start swearing very loudly. She stamped her foot down hard and glared at them when they looked up at her. "This is my room and I don't want to see either of you in it. Especially you, George! Now, get out!"  
  
"You heard her, George! Get out of my room! You too, Harry!" Ginny had her wand in her hand and Cassie would have laughed at the looks of fear on both boys' faces if she hadn't been so angry. Fred grabbed George's arm and Ron took Harry's and they were both dragged out of the room.   
  
Ginny locked the door behind them and put on a silencing spell. As soon as the door was shut, Cassie threw herself onto her bed and started hitting her pillow. After a few seconds of that, she started pacing and kicked her school trunk. Of course, that didn't help but she did feel a little better.  
  
"Are you okay, Cassie?"  
  
"No. I can't believe the way George acted! He was so jealous and . . . stupid!"  
  
"Yeah, well, boys can be that way." Hermione said as Cassie made another round of the room and kicked her trunk with the other foot.   
  
"I mean, George actually insinuated that Harry and I were carrying on a secret affair behind Ginny's back -- and that we had been doing all sorts of obscene things together!"   
  
"Yeah, we heard that part." Ginny and Hermione watched as Cassie made yet another round of the room. At least this time, she didn't kick the trunk because both her feet already hurt. After that, she sat down on the bed and looked at the two of them, both sitting on Hermione's bed and looking over at her.   
  
"Why are boys so stupid?"   
  
"I think it's hard-wired into them to be jealous of other guys encroaching on their perceived territory."   
  
"Harry didn't do any encroaching!"   
  
"I know, Cassie! I'm just trying to offer some reasonable-"   
  
"Well, thanks, Hermione, but I didn't just mean about that, I mean just in general." They all smiled, thinking about their boyfriends. Cassie wiped at her eyes, determined that she was not going to cry again.   
  
"Well, Ron was a little thick about the two of us getting together."  
  
"And he was nothing compared to Harry. At least Ron didn't know you liked him. Harry's known all along and he just ignored it."   
  
"And George should know that if I hadn't met Harry, I never would have met him."   
  
"He'll probably figure that out in about 10 minutes." Ginny got up off Hermione's bed and crossed to her own. They all sat silently for a few minutes. Ginny had put up about five pictures of Harry - really nice ones and recent. He was smiling in every one of them and Cassie watched as they waved and grinned at Ginny. "So, what's going to happen now?"   
  
"I don't know. I don't think I need to apologize for anything so I guess I'll wait for him to make the first move."   
  
"Probably a good idea. He was really being a brainless git. And Harry wasn't much better. Let them grovel in the morning. George won't let you be mad at him for very long."   
  
"Can I just ask one question?" Cassie said a few minutes later as she crawled under the covers and Hermione extinguished the lamps. "If he gives me food as an apology, should I eat it?"  
  
"No!" both girls answered emphatically and despite the ache that Cassie felt in her heart, she laughed. In the stillness, she heard the quiet hooting of an owl and she turned over, burying her head in the pillow so she wouldn't hear it anymore. She did not want to give him the impression that she had forgiven him. She was going to need an apology and it was going to have to be a good one.   
  
When she opened her eyes in the bright sunshine of Sunday morning, she grimaced and shut her eyes again. She had a headache demanding attention behind her eyelids and she wondered what sort of weird headache remedy she would be offered. She wished she had thought to buy a box of aspirin in the village yesterday. She rarely had headaches but after the emotional upset of the night before she was not surprised at its presence. She experimentally opened her eyes again, squinting to keep the amount of light down to a minimum. She stretched and glanced at the other two beds. Hermione was up and gone but Ginny was still asleep, face down on the bed, her arms around her pillow and a rather sappy smile on her face. Cassie wondered if she was dreaming of Harry and decided she would have to tease her about it later.   
  
She swung her legs off the bed and glanced at her alarm clock to see what time it was. There was a huge bouquet of roses on the night stand with a note attached. It was obvious who they were from but Cassie had to admit she was rather flummoxed. Even bewitched roses didn't grow in December, did they? She touched a pink one rather hesitantly, thinking it might be an illusion, but the cool silkiness of the flower under her fingertip convinced her it was real. She bent close and smelled the arrangement. Heavenly! It reminded her of summer at home and she forced down the momentary spurt of homesickness that shot through her as that thought crossed her mind. She looked the bouquet over carefully, it must be about two dozen roses, red, white, and pink all intermixed. She took the card off the holder and smiled as the small cupids on the front both shot arrows at each other and little hearts filled the entire card, only to disappear and show the little cupids again.   
  
There was no signature, but she didn't need it. She knew his writing. "Please forgive me. I shouldn't have reacted so badly. I wouldn't blame you if you never speak to me again, but will you at least allow me to try to apologize in person?" Who could help but be touched by a gift as nice as this? Not her. She really liked George and was willing to give him another chance or maybe more than that to get his act together. Ginny stirred and sat up, grumbling something about morning people and Cassie turned back to grin at her.   
  
Ginny must have just seen the roses because she literally jumped out of bed and crossed the room in three seconds flat. She stared, her eyes huge in her face, and Cassie thought that it must not be that common to see roses in December, even if you were a witch or a wizard. "Wow! He must have really gone somewhere fancy to get those! And parted with a huge pile of Galleons." She turned back to look over at her own night stand. "Not even so much as a weed. Hmmm."   
  
"Harry probably doesn't think he needs to bribe you to get forgiveness. After all, you really weren't involved in the argument, were you?"   
  
"He may think that - but he's got another thought coming soon! I was definitely insulted and there better be some sincere groveling!" Ginny stretched and smiled at the moving photographs. "Hear that, Harry? You'd better grovel." She looked at Cassie. "You want me to do your hair this morning?"   
  
It was about an hour later when Cassie and Ginny descended the steps. George was pacing nervously in the kitchen as they stepped down into it and he whirled to see her standing there.   
"Hi!" His voice came out in a bit of squeak and instead of glaring like she had intended to, she felt a smile break out over her face.   
"Hi. Thanks for the present."   
  
"You like them?"  
  
"Of course. Do I look like I'm insane?"   
  
"You like him, don't you? Proof that you must be!" Fred teased from across the room but George didn't react and Cassie just pretended she'd never heard him. Harry entered the kitchen and looked warily over at Ginny, who stalked over to him. Cassie didn't hear them, either, concentrating all her emotional energy on the boy in front of her at the moment. He looked so chagrined that she almost laughed. Then she was wrapped in his arms and he was kissing the top of her head and muttering into her hair.  
  
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."   
  
"I know. We do need to talk, though."  
  
"Okay, sure. Whatever you want!" Cassie looked around and saw many pairs of eyes glued on to the two of them.   
  
"Some privacy would be nice."   
  
"Let's go for a walk, then."  
  
"A walk? I'm starved!" Ten minutes later, both she and Ginny were seated at the table eating magically heated French toast with George encouraging Cassie to eat faster and Harry talking earnestly to Ginny. Cassie could hear the occasional word like "out of control" and "couldn't help it." She smiled to herself because she knew Ginny wasn't really angry at Harry, just wanted to make sure that they cleared the air between the two of them, but hearing Harry's quietly desperate tone, it sounded like he wasn't so sure about that.   
  
Finally, she was bundled in her cloak again with hat and mittens and the two of them stepped out of the door of the Burrow and headed into the field where they had walked a few days before. For the first few minutes, neither of them said anything, just enjoying being together in the cold sunshine.   
  
He spoke first and Cassie felt his hand tighten around her mittened one before he said anything. "Cassie, I'm so sorry. I don't know . . . what happened. I just . . . . Darn. I practiced this practically all night and now it's just coming out all wrong."   
  
"You don't need to worry about saying anything fancy. Just tell me what you're thinking."   
  
He stopped and turned her to face him. "I'm thinking that I won't blame you if you hate me. I . . . practically accused you of being a . . . tramp and leading me on and . . . carrying on -"  
  
"Yeah. I know. Don't start listing them. I may have missed a few. But I don't hate you."   
  
"I lost it. In my mind's eye I kept seeing you kissing him the same way you kiss me and him holding you and I just wanted to kill him so he could never touch you again."   
  
"George!"   
  
"Let's face it, Cassie. He's nicer looking, a hero, very polite, closer to your age - everything about him is-"  
  
"Are you in love with Harry?"   
  
"What!"   
  
"Well, the way you were going on about his attributes I was thinking maybe I should get jealous or something!" George smiled that endearing little quirky smile at her and kissed her on the nose.   
"Very funny."   
  
"Look. Harry is a great guy - I mean, if he weren't, I wouldn't have ever been his friend to begin with, right?" George nodded hesitantly. "I'm very particular about boys I date. They have to be very nice . . ." She started counting off on her fingers as she listed the qualities she liked about him " . . . funny, handsome, sexy, great kissers, and I seem to have a real thing about wizards." George laughed and they walked again. "But seriously, George. I liked Harry, a lot. I'm not ashamed to admit it or anything. But he was always in love with Ginny. Always. He didn't know it at the time, but he was. I won't lie and say it didn't hurt to stop liking him. But, with you, it's different." She wanted to admit that she was falling in love with him, but she hesitated and then the moment passed because they had reached the pond, now frozen solid, and George started talking about how they loved to swim in the summer and the conversation drifted onto different subjects.   
  
After a while, they turned around and started walking again toward the Burrow. "Where did you get the flowers? I wanted to ask because even Ginny was impressed, so I know you didn't just whip them up from thin air or transfigure a houseplant."   
  
"No. Those are real roses." He flushed slightly. "I just apparated to greenhouse not too terribly far away from here. They weren't happy about opening up, but bribery works wonders even at midnight on a Saturday night."   
  
"Oh."  
  
"I was going to get all yellow, but the lady wouldn't let me buy them because she said that yellow roses mean jealousy or fading love and I definitely didn't want to give those to you. I didn't know if you'd know that they meant that, but I didn't want to take any chances." She smiled.  
  
"Actually, I did know that. Not that I would have thought that's what you meant. Well, maybe I would have, at first. 'Til I read the card."   
  
"So, then I was going to get all red, because I knew that meant love, but she said red means passionate love and thought that since we aren't married that it probably wouldn't be the best." Cassie flushed slightly. "She suggested mixing the white and the red and the pink and I thought they looked nice."   
  
"They are wonderful."  
  
"They won't last forever - but at least until after Christmas. They can put some sort of preservation spell on flowers."   
  
"Speaking of Christmas, what are you getting me?"   
  
He looked sideways at her. "Are you nuts? I'm not telling!"   
  
"Oh, please, come on! I -"  
  
"No! Don't ask again."   
  
"All right," she conceded grudgingly. She just wanted to have an idea on price. She didn't want to way over or under spend for his present but she didn't have a chance to elaborate before the Burrow was in sight again. They both looked at each other and smiled faintly. "It's really crowded in there now."   
  
"Yes, and it's only going to get worse. Fleur will be coming to be with Bill, Charlie will be here for a few days since he has to come so far. Percy is dropping by. I think Angelina is coming to be with Fred this week for a day or so, and that isn't even mentioning other relatives that might drop by." Cassie stared at him with undisguised shock.   
  
"All those people are supposed to just use one bathroom?" He laughed.   
  
"We'll manage somehow. Come on." He tugged her arm gently as they started down the gentle slope that led to the house.   
  
"Wait. Can we, uh, kiss each other?" His eyes lit up and it was actually quite a few minutes before they made it to the door. Cassie fully expected that she and George would be getting the third degree when they came back in because of their being gone so long and their pink faces, only partly caused by the nipping cold. However, she was wrong. The kitchen was empty and they heard agitated voices coming from the living room so they both went in. Tonks was there, Remus standing next to her but facing the other direction, his head in the fire. She was the one sounding agitated, although Remus' voice was equally disturbed as he talked through the Floo.   
  
"I don't know how they knew I was staying there. I've been so extremely careful. And I don't know for sure if they saw me as me, but the wards were definitely tripped."   
  
"What's going on?" George asked the general circle of people all looking grave.  
  
"Tonks has been found. Her wards were tripped this morning when she came back from getting a newspaper. She didn't dare go back into the house, so she's come here to stay instead."


	57. A Visit from Snape

Chapter 57  
A Visit from Snape  
  
Remus finished speaking into the fireplace and stood up with a worried expression on his face. Arthur came into the kitchen wearing his cloak, carrying another one under his arm. "We'd better go, Tonks. Every minute could make a difference."   
  
"Where are you going?" George asked. Cassie looked at everyone's concerned faces and felt her stomach start to do cartwheels.   
  
"The Robinsons, actually. Glad you're back, Cassie. Do you have anything you want me to tell your parents?" Cassie started at Arthur for a minute, unable to quite process what he had said.   
  
"What? Why are you going to see my family?"  
  
"He's afraid that since I was compromised, your father might be in some danger, too. We're just going to go check out the situation and make sure everything's all right." Tonks smiled in what Cassie assumed was supposed to a be a reassuring way, but every nerve in her body went on high alert and she felt nauseous.   
  
"Oh! Do you really think that-"  
  
"We're not sure. That's why we're going to go check it out." Arthur said calmly, completely belying the worry in his face. "Shall we just tell them you're well?"  
  
"Uh, no." Cassie's brain felt sluggish even though her heart was beating in triple overtime. "I have a letter written . . . I'll go up and get it." She felt vaguely panicked. She remembered writing a letter but could not remember where she had put it or at this moment even if she had finished it. She hoped she could find it quickly so that they could get to her family soon.   
  
"Accio letter!" said George's voice behind her and she was pleased when the letter zoomed into his hand a moment later. He handed her the thick parchment and then his arm slipped around her in quiet support as she in turn handed the letter to Arthur. She noted vaguely that her hand was shaking. "It'll be okay, Cassie. Dad and Tonks, although they come off as a bit dim sometimes, know what they're doing." He said this quietly in her ear and she knew no one else had heard him, but she felt a little better.   
  
The two disapparated quickly and Cassie looked around at everyone else. A lot of forced smiles were plastered on a lot of faces and she didn't quite no what to do in response. "I'm sure my family is fine. If they weren't they'd be here already, right? I'm sure they still have the emergency portkey that was set up for them at the beginning of this little adventure." She was surprised at how cheerful she sounded but her ruse must have worked because everyone else immediately relaxed and headed out of the room to go back to what they were doing. Fred was looking at the two of them with a rather sly grin and Cassie realized that they might be in for some questioning after all. But before he could actually reach them and start grilling them, Remus came over to talk to Cassie.   
  
"I was just talking to Dumbledore. He said to say hello to you."   
  
"Thanks."   
  
"I've had a thought, Cassie. I wish I had thought of it earlier. You've identified two further conspirators now but we have been stumped on who else to even suggest as a possibility."   
  
"Yes, I know."   
  
"But I was stupid. We should use the identified men as starting points and show you pictures of their friends and acquaintances. Usually when a group of people get together to cause trouble, they invite people they know and trust . . . . gives them more of a chance of not being exposed." Cassie felt a small stir of excitement. Remus was right, of course. Maybe this would actually go somewhere. "So, I've asked Dumbledore to collect pictures of the known associates of both Sootspinner and Grimwood and send them over. We'll hope that you recognize a few of them."  
  
"Okay. How long will that take?"  
  
"Not long. Uh, he should be here shortly." Remus smiled faintly and then headed into the kitchen after Molly. Cassie scowled after him.   
  
"Is it just me, George, or does he seem more concerned than he should be?"  
  
"It's not just you. I think he's worried about Tonks."  
  
"Oh, yeah." She looked up at him with a little smile. "Do you think he-"  
  
"Hey, George and Cassie!" Ginny was poking her head out of the kitchen door and yelling at her. "Who wants to play Exploding Snap?" A few moments later all of them were gathered in the living room with cards in their hands. Cassie had run upstairs quickly to put her cloak and things away but no one had given her a bad time or questioned her about the discussion with George. She supposed that since they all knew about the possible danger her family was in and decided not to add to her stress. She was grateful for their thoughtfulness.   
  
The game moved on in a fairly predictable fashion, with Ron and Fred winning most of the time, which was something Cassie had learned to expect. Every muscle in her body tensed up when she heard a distinctive pop from the kitchen. She wondered if Arthur and Tonks were back or if it was Professor Dumbledore with those pictures. George put his hand on her shoulder a second later and Harry stood up and swore vaguely as the cards scattered. "What are you doing here?"  
  
Cassie didn't even turn around before she heard the smooth dark voice of a man she really hoped never to see again. "I can assure you, Potter, I did not want to come. Dumbledore sent me, and I, unlike you, do as I am told." Professor Snape stood in the living room door, a packet in his hand, and a glare on his face. "I have business now with . . . Miss Robinson . . . so you are all welcome to leave." It was almost comical to see how quickly everyone scattered because before Cassie could have even counted to 10, the room was empty except for her, Professor Snape, and George, who was still standing protectively by her. Snape looked at George and then around the room with some vague concern. "Where is your brother?"  
  
"You mean Fred?"  
  
"Of course I mean Fred."   
  
"I guess he's upstairs. Why? Do you miss him?"  
  
"No, I'm just wondering what mischief you two have in store for me. Will I be bombarded with dungbombs, attacked by doxies, or pelted with swarms of wild pixies?"   
  
"Ah, Professor. You know we never like to do the same thing twice. We like to try new things on you."  
  
"Yes. I am aware of that."   
  
"And we do it because we like you so much."   
  
"And I like you, too." The sarcasm in both of their tones was acidic enough to eat through the carpet and Cassie squirmed rather nervously. He was going to turn all this pleasant mood onto her in a moment and it was already going to be bad enough. Professor Snape stepped gingerly further into the room as if he expected the floor to open up beneath him, glancing around once or twice before he reached Cassie. The Potions Master stared at George with barely veiled malice and said "You're welcome to leave, Weasley."   
  
"I'll be staying."   
  
"You'll be leaving."   
  
"No. I'll wait over here and not say a word, but I'm staying." George walked over to a corner chair and sat down. Snape looked at him and then at Cassie and then back at him. There was a vague light shining in his eyes that made Cassie even more anxious, as if she needed another reason. It was obvious that he knew the truth about her now and was less than pleased about it. But she didn't like the way he was looking at George.   
  
"Uh, Professor? Did you bring pictures?"   
  
His attention snapped to her with a sudden intensity that sent prickles down her arms, but he ignored George after that and she was grateful. "The Headmaster tells me that you were at school under false pretenses." She nodded slightly, unsure of how angry he really was. He was so impossible for her to understand, something she was not used to. "He tells me that you are actually a Muggle . . . something I refuse to believe."   
  
"What?" Then she felt the unmistakable probing of his trying to get into her mind and she forced him back. His eyes met hers squarely.   
  
"Why are you lying? You are not a Muggle." His voice was low and deep and Cassie glanced over at George who was looking at the two of them with a glare on his face. He didn't react so Cassie didn't think he had heard Professor Snape's comments.  
  
"Aren't you here to show her some pictures? You best get on with it, then."  
  
"Thank you, Weasley. If you don't want to be hexed into next week, I suggest you shut your mouth."   
  
I'm not your student any more, Professor. And you know I can give as good as I get, so I don't suggest starting anything with me. This is, after all, my house."   
  
"Yes. I am well aware of that." Cassie heard the vague insult in his tone and wanted to punch him on his rather overly large nose. George just scowled but was obviously dismissed and so sat back down in the chair, looking at Professor Snape with narrowed eyes. The Professor placed the packet on the table where a few minutes before they had all been playing cards and glanced at Cassie. "Well, come on, Spencer, uh, Robinson. I don't want to be here longer than I need to."   
  
Cassie examined each picture carefully, hoping that she would recognize at least one person from the pictures. She hated the thought of wasting Professor Snape's time and she also hated the thought that he would once again have a reason to think her worthless. She thought that if she could identify at least one of these people, he would have to admit that she was doing something useful. But her hopes were in vain because as she looked at the last photograph, she had to admit that not a single one of the 50 or so wizards even appeared slightly familiar. She sighed in frustration and defeat. "I'm sorry, Professor. I don't recognize anyone." She looked up at him, expecting to see disgust on his face, but instead saw a rather speculative expression. She glanced over at George, thinking that he once again was trying to discern why George was still in the room. But her eyes opened wide in shock. George was not there anymore. Fred was sitting there in exactly the same position as George had been and clothes that were identical to the ones George had been wearing.   
  
Cassie's attention was drawn back to the Professor, though, when she once again felt the probing of invisible fingers around the edges of her mind. She glared at him. "Stop it."   
  
"Stop what, Miss Robinson?"  
  
"Stop trying to read my mind, of course! Do you think I'm lying about not recognizing any pictures?"  
  
"No, I just-"  
  
"I said stop! If you want to ask me a question, then do so! I will most likely answer it, but I will not be . . . " She shook her head in frustration. "Stop!" She took a deep breath and forced him out of her mind. It took a lot of effort. He was prepared this time and didn't seem all that willing to leave.   
  
"As I said, Miss Robinson, it is obvious that you are no Muggle! I don't know what game you're playing, but-"  
  
"If it makes you feel any better to believe that no Muggle could stand up to you, than just go ahead and believe it, Professor. But I'm telling you, I am a Muggle. I'm just a determined one, and I don't want you trying to read my mind."   
  
"I've never met a single Muggle in my life whose mind I cannot enter without their even noticing!"   
  
"Well, you have now!" The two of them were glaring at each other. Fred cleared his throat delicately into the stillness.   
  
"Uh, have you finished then, Professor?"   
  
"Yes. Completely." As he turned smartly on his heel to leave in disgust, George (now dressed in Fred's things) stepped into the living room. Professor Snape immediately froze, all his attention focused on the beaker that George held in his hand. "What is that?"   
  
"This? It's nothing, really. We were sort of hoping that you would be willing to help us out with it as it is a potion and we are having a bit of difficulty with it."   
  
"I am no longer obligated to help you in any way whatsoever, Weasley. That ended when you and your twin here" and his eyes flicked back to Fred, still standing in the corner "flew out of Hogwarts on that wonderful day two years ago and became official drop-outs."   
  
"I told you, George," said George, "that he wouldn't be willing to help us."   
  
"You were right, Fred. Pity, really." Professor Snape glanced warily between the two of them, obviously not liking the idea of being between the two of them. Cassie didn't know what was up, but she knew that something was obviously afoot as they were in full prank mode, now. Professor Snape took a step backward toward George and Cassie realized why they had changed places. He figured that George was the more trustworthy as he had been "in the room" the whole time and so was less likely to have anything tricky on him. George stepped further into the room and Professor Snape almost unwillingly backed up another step. Then George/Fred reached down to the floor and lifted a beaker identical to the one Fred/George was already holding - equally full of liquid. Professor Snape's eyes grew wide in surprise. He knew that had not been there earlier and also knew that they had not been able to set it up ahead of time as they had not known he was coming. But he could also sense that he was in trouble. Cassie almost felt bad for him and hoped that they weren't going to do anything too nasty to him. Professor Snape pulled his wand from his sleeve.   
  
"Professor, you don't need to worry. The potion is harmless, really. Completely harmless. We are just having some trouble getting it to solidify reliably. Show him, George." George looked at Fred meaningfully.   
  
"Yeah. See, sometimes it works . . . .and sometimes it doesn't." Fred turned his pitcher over and nothing happened. The liquid stayed in the bottom of the container. Professor Snape visibly relaxed. George then demonstrated the same trick with his.   
  
"This is a particularly stubborn batch." As he went to turn his beaker, the potion exploded out of the top and landed all over the Potions Master. Both twins shook their heads with equally sad expressions on their faces. "See what we mean?"   
  
Professor Snape stared in growing horror at his robes. Everywhere the potion had splashed, his robes had changed from black to a different bright color or pattern, leaving him looking like a painter's canvas after it had been well-used. Even his hair, normally a dark black color, was sporting several different bright shades of such unlikely colors as turquoise and canary yellow. Cassie bit her lip to try to keep in the laughter, and probably would have succeeded if it hadn't been for the expressions on the twins' faces. "Oh, we're so sorry, Professor - you can see why we need help! It's really not supposed to do that!"   
  
Professor Snape didn't say a word, just stalked out of the room with an anger so intense that Cassie expected lightning bolts and thunder to accompany him through the kitchen door. The distinctive pop a moment later announced his departure. Cassie stared with wide eyes at the two of them before all three of them burst into convulsions of laughter. Their howls of amusement didn't even stop when both Molly and Remus came in to find out why Severus had looked amazingly like a peacock. Molly tried to look stern and angry but the twins didn't quell under her expression. Remus tried to look disapproving but failed miserably and both the older people left the room before they had to admit that it had been funny.   
  
Cassie had a stitch in her side from laughing so hard and long before the three of them managed to calm down. By then, the other four young inhabitants of the Burrow had come downstairs to find out what was so funny and the twins' garbled explanations of Professor Snape's new robes only further increased their uncontrollable laughter. Cassie drew in deep breaths of air, trying to regain some control over herself as she sat on the floor. At one point, she had been sitting on the couch, but had actually rolled off during one laughing fit, something that had sent all seven of them into increased gales of giggling. Now, they were all wiping their eyes on their clothes, trying to talk about what had happened.   
  
Hermione had tried to look angry at the fact that they had done something to "Professor Snape - who, if you remember correctly, we all still have class from!"  
  
"Ah, Hermione. He can't blame you. It was only the two of us, and we aren't his students anymore. Well, and maybe Cassie, but she won't be going back to school either." Hermione had to admit this was true and she had laughed along with the rest of them about the effects of the color-changing potion on the professor's usually severe black robes.   
  
They were still giggling occasionally when another pop from the kitchen announced someone either apparating or disapparating. Cassie held her breath, hoping it wasn't Professor Snape, regrouped and renewed and planning on hexing the twins into oblivion. A second pop a moment later, though, told Cassie that it was probably Arthur and Tonks back from her house, and their entrance into the living room confirmed her hunch.   
  
She sobered up quickly, clambering onto the couch, and George - still dressed in Fred's things - sat down next to her. Everyone else looked at him strangely, assuming like Professor Snape had, that it was Fred. Neither Cassie nor George bothered to correct them, figuring they would realize it soon enough. Their attention was solely on Arthur. Both he and Tonks looked very relaxed and Cassie thought that this had to be a good sign. Molly and Remus followed them into the room, obviously anxious to hear what was going on as well.   
  
"Sorry we were so long. Our business was finished after about 15 minutes but Arthur wanted to stay for a visit." Arthur flushed slightly but didn't respond to that.   
  
"Cassie, your family is fine. They send their love and this letter." He handed her an envelope with her father's familiar scrawl on the front. "And I hope you don't mind, Molly, but I invited them for Christmas Eve. I thought that they should have a chance to see their daughter for the holidays." Cassie's heart jumped she was so pleased. She watched with concern, though, as both Molly's and George's faces went white.   
  
"Oh. Okay. Did you make them a portkey, then?"   
  
"I told them we would come get them on Wednesday morning. I'll have Albus make them one. Is that all right, Molly?"  
  
"Well, of course, of course. The more the merrier." She looked over at Hermione. "Your parents are still planning on coming?"   
  
"Yes. Definitely. It will be nice to have the Robinsons here for them to visit with." Cassie noted with a secret amusement that Ron's face went as white as George's. And Ron had met the Grangers several times, Cassie knew. Poor George must be absolutely terrified.   
  
"It will be a full house that day, then." She got up, muttering to herself, obviously counting how many people would actually be here on her fingers and Cassie hoped that she had planned on a big meal, because by her informal count, they would probably be up to around 25 people or so. Cassie looked down at the envelope and tucked it into her jeans' pocket as Arthur and Tonks started to tell them what they had found out at the Robinsons.   
  
"Andrew says that to the best of his knowledge, there has not been any sort of connection made between him and Tonks, that to everyone's understanding in the office, she is still the secretary for the Prime Minister and that they barely know each other. Tonks and he agreed that it was probably best if she didn't go into work Monday morning and he will listen to the office gossip and see what is being said. He wants to go in as usual, though, in fact is insisting on it because otherwise he fears that people may actually link the two of them together, which he feels could be dangerous."   
  
Cassie didn't like the idea of her father going in to work at all, but knew that at the rate she was identifying perpetrators it might be months before the entire group was exposed and he certainly did not have that much time off available. She smiled at Arthur. "Okay. It sounds like he's got a plan, then."   
  
"Seems like it. He did say that Blackman has asked about you again."  
  
"You're kidding!"  
  
"He was wondering if you would be coming to the office Christmas party, I guess. Didn't seem to convinced by Andrew's saying you were staying in Switzerland to ski with friends from your boarding school - Andrew admits he probably didn't sound too convincing. He forgot what country you were supposed to be in. Had to blame it on a moment of senility."   
  
"Great." Cassie covered her eyes with her hands. Her father was in danger every minute he had to go into work and she had not solved this riddle. She had to figure out who else had been at that meeting and she had to do it soon. Before she could express her frustration, though, Molly came back into the living room, looking slightly calmer.   
  
"Tonks, we're going to move Bill into Charlie's room and put you there tonight. When Fleur arrives later this week, you'll both be staying there together. Charlie will be coming tomorrow and he and Bill will be perfectly fine in his room together." Tonks tried to look gracious but Cassie could tell that the thought of rooming with Fleur was not a welcome one. Cassie wondered yet again what type of girl this Fleur was. Everyone seemed half afraid of her, Hermione outright disliked her, and yet all the men got rather sappy expressions on their faces with just the mention of her name.   
  
"When will Fleur be coming?"   
  
"We don't really know. Bill said she would just come early in the week. He may not know, himself."   
  
"Where is Bill, anyway?" asked Fred.   
  
"He's been reading upstairs but at the moment, I've got him shifting his belongings into Charlie's room. Tonks, you can take your . . ."  
  
Molly's voice trailed off in embarrassment. "Yeah. I don't have anything, not one stitch of clothes beyond what I've got on, which isn't so great." Tonks looked down at her clothes with a faint air of disgust in her expression. She was wearing clothes that obviously belonged to the middle-aged secretary and they hung on her slender frame like old rags. "I don't even know what I'm going to sleep in."   
  
Cassie glanced at Remus, who was concentrating hard on the flames dancing in the fireplace. She willed that he would offer one of his shirts to the girl and she imagined Tonks accepting it with a blushing gratitude. Remus even turned with his mouth open but before he could actually spit out the words, Molly jumped in. "Well, that's fine. You're not any taller than Hermione or Ginny, or Cassie for that matter. I'm sure between the three of them, they'll have some sort of nightshirt." No one commented on the flush that crossed both Cassie's and Ginny's faces, which was good. "Then tomorrow someone can go to Diagon Alley and buy you some more clothes." She looked around at the assembled adults in the room. "If we can find anyone who can be seen in the Alley."   
  
"We could, Mum. Not that I really want to be seen buying girl's clothes," Fred half laughed.   
  
"That won't be necessary," said Tonks firmly. "I can go. Trust me when I say I won't be recognized."   
  
"Of course."   
  
"I'll go tomorrow when there are bigger crowds. I'll be less remembered that way. Sundays are always slow." They all talked for a few more minutes about how she would get to the Alley and back (apparating into the twins' shop was the final decision) and what money she would use as she could hardly go into Gringott's and get money from her own vault. By the time that was all decided, it was almost time for Sunday dinner and Cassie, Molly, Hermione, and Ginny all walked into the kitchen to start preparing dinner for the steadily growing crowd at the Burrow. They were up to 12 now and Cassie was glad that the table could be expanded by magic as otherwise they'd all be sitting on the floor by now.   
  
So, when Professor Dumbledore apparated into the kitchen as they were just starting on the delicious roast that Molly had fixed, one more place was made for him without any trouble.   
"Oooh, 13 at dinner" said Ron in a sort of falsetto voice that made everybody laugh. Cassie soon realized he was mimicking Professor Trelawney but before he could continue, a rather stern look from the Headmaster stopped his teasing. Harry was the only one who hadn't laughed and the whiteness around his mouth made Cassie worry. Ginny took his hand in hers and somehow they both managed to eat despite it.   
  
"A very angry Severus Snape came into my office not too long ago, Arthur."   
  
"Aah. What was he angry about?" Dumbledore looked over at the twins.   
  
"He didn't seem to like his new wardrobe. But that's not important now. What is important is that Miss Robinson was not able to identify anybody else from the stack of pictures he brought with him. He said that he even tried to view her memories, to see if those would be helpful to him or to her, but she, hm-hm, refused to allow him access." Cassie flushed brightly.   
  
"If he would have told me that's what he wanted to do, I would have let him."   
  
"Yes. That is what I told him. However, he refused to come back to the Burrow tonight. I'm not sure why." George was looking strangely at Cassie but she didn't take the time to explain.   
  
"But that is neither here nor there. What I want to talk to you about, actually, Arthur, Molly, and Miss Robinson, is that I think we need to have you identify the shop where the meeting took place. We really should have had you do this much earlier."  
  
"Remus tried to get me to tell him what the shop looked like and everything earlier, but it wasn't a good enough description."  
  
"Yes. I am afraid we are going to have to have you actually go into Knockturn Alley and identify the store in person."   
  
"What!" Every single person froze at the table and if Cassie hadn't been so suddenly terrified she would have laughed.   
  
"I don't see any other alternative. I'm not too happy with the idea, either. But I think we can put a plan in place that will allow you to go unrecognized and with backup."   
  
"No. Absolutely not." George and Harry said together and she saw a flare of anger in George's eyes as he looked at the younger boy. But it passed as others around the table also voiced their concern with the idea.  
  
"We can post a guard - Allistair has said he would help, Mundungus has offered to be of any assistance, and of course, we have our own metamorphagus that can certainly aid in the project. A thick winter cloak, a bit of dirt, no one will even be suspicious."   
  
The rest of dinner passed in a rather choked silence, although Professor Dumbledore expressed his pleasure at the meal several times. Afterwards, all of the adults, including the twins (who absolutely refused to be left out) went into the living room to discuss the plans for the next day while the others were left in the kitchen to clean up the dishes. Cassie desperately wanted to hear what was being said and was half tempted to ask Harry if she could somehow borrow his cloak and listen from a corner, but as he was leaving the kitchen, a very solemn-appearing George pressed a small package into her hand. He didn't say a word, just left and let the door close behind him. Cassie looked down into her hand and was even more confused. She was holding a package from their store. A package of thin pink strings.


	58. The Plan for Knockturn Alley

Chapter 58  
The Plan for Knockturn Alley  
  
Cassie stared at the thin pink strings in wonderment. "What are these? George handed them to me on his way out."  
  
"Ooh!" Ginny squealed in excitement. "They're Extendable Ears. George obviously wants you to hear what's going on in there. Here, I'll help you with them." Cassie was just about to hand them to Ginny when they all heard two pops. Cassie instinctively hid the box behind her back before she turned to look at the two new visitors. The first looked like he could be a beggar or homeless person and the cloud of tobacco smoke that accompanied him made Cassie's eyes water. The second was, well, scary looking. It was hard to tell which of the two was older as they both had that sort of older-than-dirt look and their faces had both weathered to the color of mahogany. The second man had a wooden leg but that was not his most compelling feature. What really drew Cassie's interest was his rugged, battle-scarred face with only a partial nose. One of his eyes was beetle-black while the other was almost an electric blue and was swiveling about unceasingly. Cassie tried not to stare at the blue eye although she supposed that was stupid as he obviously knew it was there.   
  
The two men were greeted with enthusiasm by the other students. Ginny and Hermione hugged the taller man (carefully) while Ron and Harry shook his hand with enthusiasm. The dirtier man was greeted kindly although Cassie noticed that no one offered to touch him, either by hugging him or gripping his hand. However, friendly smiles were exchanged. Cassie watched Harry particularly, as his rather aloof nature was rarely breached, and she had learned to look at his reaction to people to know whether or not she could trust someone. Harry was perfectly relaxed with both of them and his smile reached his eyes. Cassie had relaxed behind their backs, only to stiffen back up as the tall man turned suddenly and fixed both eyes on her. Cassie stifled a shocked gasp and tried not to look terrified. "Who are you?" he barked and Cassie jumped at the hard sound of his voice.   
  
"I'm, uh, Cassie. Cassie Robinson."  
  
"Ah, the Muggle girl. I'm Alastor Moody."  
  
"It's nice to meet you." Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration. She tried to relax. If Harry liked him, he must be trustworthy.   
  
The other man stepped forward. "And I'm Mundungus Fletcher. But you can just call me Dung."  
  
Cassie looked at him in vague shock, thinking that she must have misheard him. "Are you serious?"  
  
"No, Dung. My name is Dung."  
  
Cassie just nodded, trying to make sense of what he had just said. It seemed like a total non sequitur but she didn't want to ask him any more questions. Truthfully, he smelled so bad that she was rather anxious for him to get further away from her. Moody nodded toward the living room. "The meeting's in there. And none of 'em look too happy. We'd better get in there soon. I think we're late." The two men stepped toward the door. Cassie felt herself relax, looking at the others and motioned at the men in an exaggerated expression questioning who they were, sure that there was some fascinating story behind their odd appearance. As she did so, Moody said over his back, "It's okay, girl, we're not going to hurt you." Cassie flipped her head to look at him, but he had already stepped through the door.   
  
"How did he . . ."  
  
"His magical eye can see through the back of his head." Ginny laughed at the look on Cassie's face.   
  
"His given name may be Alastor, but I think you can see why everyone calls him Mad-Eye."   
  
"Uh, yeah. Can it really see through . . ."  
  
"It sure can," said Harry as he turned back to his dish-drying. "He can see through walls, clothing, you name it. In fact, he can even see through invisibility cloaks."   
  
Cassie and Ginny immediately started setting up the Extendable Ears. Ginny rolled one end of the strings under the door, working fairly hard and making sure that they didn't poke out beyond the edge of the door and putting them to the side where the hinge was and where (although Cassie would never have told Molly) there was a collection of dust that made it less likely they would be seen. Ginny helped Cassie stick the other ends into her ears, and Cassie blinked in shock, pulling her head away instantly as a cacophony of sound erupted in her head.   
  
"Gah! That's loud!" She scrunched her ears up against the pain in her eardrums and tried to decipher what was going on in the other room. Ginny had evidently expected some sort of reaction because her wand was ready a split-second later and she said some spell that dulled the noise to a bearable level. Now she could make out individual voices and although she couldn't tell who was talking, it was certainly obvious that they were talking about her.   
  
"We just need to get her down the Alley as rapidly as possible, let her look around. Once she's seen the store that she thinks is it, we hustle her out of there and . . ."  
  
"Fine . . . fine. But if they should recognize her and kill her on the spot - do we worry about dragging her body out of there or do we just walk on pretending we don't know her?"   
  
Cassie's eyes opened wide and her mouth did the same. They thought she was going to be killed?! She glanced at the others in the kitchen, talking quietly and happily, and she was unsure whether she should say something to them or not. She didn't and she was glad because a second later a voice that she recognized as George's came through the strings.   
  
"Oh, for hell's sake, Moody - give it a rest! Cassie is not going to be killed on the spot! What is it with you?"   
  
"What? It could happen!"  
  
"Alastor!" She thought this was Professor Dumbledore although she could have been wrong. "Even if they knew it was her, they wouldn't kill her instantly - they are very desperate to know who else she told about them and how much. I'm sure they'd keep her alive for a while and torture her first." Everyone chuckled and Cassie knew he had been kidding. However, her rapidly beating heart reacted to the words and she took a deep breath.   
  
"Can we be serious about this, please? I'm sure that this is all very amusing - but I for one am still unsure of the plan!" George's voice rose over the casual laughter and Cassie could tell that since he knew she was listening, he was starting to worry about the humour at her expense.  
  
Over the next 30 minutes every possibility of what could go right and what could go wrong was discussed and by the end of the discussion, Cassie felt pretty confident about the plan. It was obvious that they had done this lots of times before and knew what they were doing. She would have to take a portkey - of course! - to George and Fred's shop where she would be met by Tonks who would be her escort for the entire process. Tonks was told that she could do anything necessary to get her out of there safely and by the stress put on the word "anything" Cassie knew that this meant including kill. Moody would be behind them in an invisibility cloak, scanning the vicinity for hidden threats and practicing what everyone jokingly called "Constant Vigilance" and although Moody sniffed at the obvious laughter in their tones, he didn't disagree. Dung, on the other hand, who seemed to be a permanent resident of Knockturn Alley (Cassie wasn't really surprised to hear this), was to stroll along casually, not really by them but nearby, helping draw out the owners of the stores if Cassie thought she recognized anyone and acting as a backup help if something were to go wrong.   
  
George wanted to hang around, too, but that plan was nixed by everyone because he was too recognizable to everyone in both Diagon and Knockturn Alleys and he was told to simply stay in the shop. He wasn't happy with this idea, but since if he didn't agree his parents threatened to magically lock him in his room, he eventually agreed.   
  
"I think we need to bring Miss Robinson out here and let her know about our plans. After all, she is the main ingredient in the entire thing." At Dumbledore's words, Cassie jumped up and grabbed the strings out of her ears. Ginny must have been keeping an eye on her because she was instantly at her side, helping her pull them away from the door and hiding them in her pocket as the door swung open to reveal the smiling face of her mother.   
  
"The kitchen looks nice. Thank you, all. Cassie, I think we're ready for you. The rest of you are welcome to go upstairs or stay down here - your choice." Nobody moved as Cassie went nervously out into the living room. She felt instantly overwhelmed. The room was full of people. True, she knew them all, but since they were all staring at her she felt like hiding her head in her hands. However, not wanting them to see how afraid she really was, she forced herself to throw her shoulders back and walk across the room, following Molly who led her to Professor Dumbledore. Fred gave her a reassuring smile and George stood up before his father shot him a warning look and he sat back down, scowling.   
  
Cassie listened quietly as they outlined the plan to her and she nodded carefully, trying to make it look like this was the first time she had heard anything about Moody, Tonks, and Dung accompanying her on her little scouting mission. "Um, Professor?" she asked as he finished up the recitation.   
  
"Yes?"   
  
"Could I talk to you for a minute?"   
  
"Of course." When she didn't immediately start talking, he seemed to sense her desire for privacy. "Did you want to adjourn to another room?"  
  
"Yes, please." She didn't know how stupid this idea was going to sound as she was very unfamiliar with the magic needed and she couldn't bear the idea of anyone laughing at her. So as they stepped through the door back into the kitchen, she was rather dismayed to see everyone still sitting there. Normally, she would have been grateful for the moral support but not at the moment. The Headmaster looked at the assembled group and smiled.   
  
"How about going outside?" That sounded like a good idea, although she didn't have a cloak.   
  
"Uh, sure. Thanks." Once they got outside, she wanted to talk quickly so that she wouldn't start shivering before she had finished presenting her idea. He seemed impervious to the cold and was looking at her calmly. "Professor, I don't know if this is possible or anything, but remember how you said that Professor Snape wanted to look at my memories - that it might help somehow?"  
  
"Yes, I remember."   
  
"Wouldn't it just be easier to let him do that - I mean, rather than risk everyone's life and take everyone's time to go down the Alley tomorrow and everything. I know he's mad at me because of today, but if I knew he was doing it for a good reason, I could let him . . . you know . . . read my mind." Her voice trailed off at the end because the thought of Professor Snape probing deep into her brain was unappetizing to say the least. The older man looked at her for a moment.   
  
"So . . . he was telling me the truth? You were able to keep him out of your mind? I had assumed that he was simply angry about . . . the colors in his hair. He tends to misinterpret other people's reactions toward him - usually not in a positive way, as I'm sure you could not fail to notice." He sounded so discouraged with this statement that Cassie had a thought to pat him on the shoulder, but didn't. It would have been a crossing of the boundary that was still very present between them.   
  
"Yes. And if you're going to ask me how I do it, I couldn't tell you. Harry said that I shouldn't be able to do it because it's advanced magic, but I don't think I'm doing magic, I just don't like the feeling of him probing around in there. It feels weird and I just push him away." Professor Dumbledore nodded calmly and didn't look shocked or anything which made Cassie feel a little better. But then she started to babble, elaborating on her idea and covering the same material again, before the Professor held up his hand, and she shut her mouth, suddenly feeling as gauche and stupid as a 5-year-old child.   
  
"I understand what you are asking me, Miss Robinson. I am trying to decide how to answer you. Give me a moment, please." She bit her lip and felt the shivers begin. She was decidedly chilled and hoped he would think quickly. Finally, about five minutes later, he looked up at her. She felt a warmth and realized that he had cast a warming spell around her. "I should have sent you for your cloak. Forgive me."  
  
"It's all right. I won't die from this weather." He smiled faintly.   
  
"I will try to explain this so that you understand it. Harry has told me, and I'm afraid he is right, that I don't make things very easy to comprehend. Severus was, quite honestly, not doing anything quite so magnanimous as attempting to solve your problem. If it were that easy, I would have done it instantly. For you see, my girl, I can do Legilemency as well. When you arrived at Hogwarts it would have taken me but two minutes to peer inside your brain and isolate all those memories and then I could have sent you back home without any further difficulty. And I dare say with all due respect to Severus' skill that I could have done it without your knowing it." He sighed, and walked to the edge of the porch where he stared out onto the frozen landscape for a few minutes before he turned back to face her. "He told me that had been his intention, but I knew that this was not true even when he said it because I had specifically forbidden him from doing this when I told him the truth about who you are and why you are here. I think he was embarrassed that he had been . . . snooping and he wanted to justify himself to me. Very, uh, Slytherin of him although of course I did not tell him that earlier today. He was already angry enough."   
  
"But . . ." Cassie was really confused now. She had had no idea that Professor Dumbledore could have attempted to read her mind and she really didn't understand why he hadn't offered to begin with. It would have all been so much easier.  
  
"Memory is a fragile thing, a delicate thing. A thing so strongly influenced by outside factors that it is hard to even describe. Do you agree with that?" Cassie just shook her head and he continued. "It happens often on the witness stand in the Muggle world, I'm sure you would have seen a movie about this sometime in your life. A witness swears they saw something or someone that turns out to be physically impossible. And they aren't lying - they may have an honest memory of that thing happening, but it is a false memory." Cassie drew her eyebrows low over her eyes and thought for a minute.   
  
"I always assumed they were tricked somehow."   
  
"Not always. The slightest suggestion can make a memory shift. One's perception of what happened can often be the strongest influence on how you remember something. My . . . or anyone else's -- idea of what happened could make your memory change were you to be exposed to it. I told Severus very strongly that in absolutely no way was he to try to see your memories of that night as his probing them could somehow ruin them. And I'm afraid I could do no better." This time, it was he who shook his head as he tried to put his feelings into words that she could understand. "Let's say for instance that I tried it and I entered your mind and found the memory, the specific instant of memory, when you looked through that open door and saw a collection of eight wizards sitting there staring back at you."   
  
"Yeah, okay." To Cassie, that sounded like blessed relief. Maybe that was why she was being so forceful about this idea, because she thought that having someone like Professor Dumbledore, or even Professor Snape, take over all the responsibility of identifying the remaining wizards would allow her to go back to her family. She could shed the responsibility like an ill-fitting coat and let someone else do this job that she never wanted to do in the first place.   
  
"So, when I look through that door, I instantly recognize all of them, or I think I do. After all, I am only seeing the way you remember them - and it may not be a perfectly accurate representation. I attach names to all of them and suddenly that is set in stone. You will also remember them that way - whether that is really them or not. Our minds would, uh, merge my ideas with your memories and the honesty of your memories would be polluted forever. Do you understand me?"   
  
"Uh . . . sort of." She thought about this for a while, going over each word again. "But isn't there some way we can sort of isolate the memories so that your perception of them can't change them?" He turned and looked at her and the light of triumph in his eyes surprised her.   
  
"Yes. Yes there is. It is not easy and we cannot do it right now. But it can be done. And believe me when I tell you that I am working very hard on getting it ready. Give me another week or so and I think we can do it that way."   
  
"Well, then . . . why this whole shop thing?"   
  
"I think that every day that passes, the situation becomes more and more untenable - not only for your family and you, but for the Order and for your Prime Minister and for Tonks and, well, the list goes on. If you were to suddenly remember everything tomorrow, it would be better than waiting. Does that make sense to you?"   
  
"Definitely. The sooner we can get this done the better in my opinion." Her vehemence surprised even her, because she liked it here. She just wanted it over - all the uncertainty and the fear and the dark looks at the stories in the Daily Prophet every morning.   
  
"I agree. So, I guess my question is, Miss Robinson, is are you willing to go tomorrow and see if you can remember anything else?"  
  
"Yes. But what's going to change in a week that would make it different from now?"   
  
"I don't want to really tell you as it might worry you and I don't want that. Let me just say that I am preparing a potion -- an extremely complicated and rare potion. I've never made it in my life and I didn't even want to ask Severus to do it. And it simply takes a long time to make."   
  
"Oh." That was the last thing she expected him to say. She thought maybe some magical alignment of the planets or some great powerful wizard's arrival from far away to help them, but not a potion. "Does it take that long to make?"  
  
"Yes. And since I'm sure someone is listening to our conversation with the Extendable Ears you were using earlier I will not say more. I don't want them to know either until the time is right." Cassie stared at him wide-eyed.   
  
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"  
  
"No. But I have long ago learned when dealing with Misters Fred and George Weasley that the word 'shouldn't' rarely comes into their minds." Cassie blushed and Professor Dumbledore smiled in a sort of teasing way, the twinkle in his eyes obvious even in the dim light from the kitchen window. "And I believe one of the twins is having quite a bad influence on you. However, since you are happy, it is hard for me to think of discouraging your, uh, friendship." And a moment later, he opened the door and ushered a very bright red Cassie back into the kitchen, where George was standing waiting for her.   
  
"Professor -"  
  
"Don't even attempt to apologize to me. I believe it is Miss Robinson that deserves your apology. It was she that wanted the privacy. I will be brief about telling the others what you wanted, if that is acceptable?"   
  
"Sure. I mean, yes. Thank you." He stepped toward the door and pushed it open. "Professor?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I really do mean thank you. For everything."   
  
"And you are most welcome." The six of them still in the kitchen looked at each other and Ron grunted, running a hand through his hair which was standing on end as if he had done this several times already. George handed her the two pale pink strings.   
  
"He knows me very well. I'm sorry that your idea didn't work. Truthfully, I never thought of it, before tonight I mean."   
  
"No - I didn't know that Professor Snape could really look for a specific memory or anything. I thought he was just being a nosy git." Harry laughed.   
  
"Yeah - he has a knack for pulling out all the stuff you really wish he'd never looked at. Trust me. I know." Ginny stood up and kissed Harry gently on the cheek.   
  
"Don't think about Snivellus right now, luv. Anyone in the mood for hot chocolate?" She started the kettle as everyone murmured their approval to the idea. Over the next few minutes, all six of them, as well as Fred, sipped hot cocoa and carried on pleasant small talk with the visitors who were leaving tonight, a pitiful few considering how full the living room had been. The first ones to leave were actually the last two to arrive, Mad-Eye and "Dung." It was only after he disapparted, leaving behind a certain pungent odor Cassie tried not to inhale, that she suddenly realized what he had been saying earlier. It had been a sort of sick joke. She had asked if he was serious, and he had purposely misunderstood her to say Sirius. And he had corrected her. Funny, very funny. George asked what she was smiling about but she just shook her head.   
  
"I'm just thinking about something. It's not important." Professor Dumbledore left soon after that and Cassie watched the exchange between the Headmaster and Harry with interest. There was a certain depth there that still surprised her and she wondered if Harry would ever be able to explain their relationship - either to himself or to anyone else.   
  
The four boys all started a game of Exploding Snap when they were done with their cocoa, but Cassie's nerves wouldn't let her relax and enjoy watching them. Ginny and Hermione didn't seem in any hurry to go to bed, but Cassie excused herself a few minutes later and headed up the stairs to the bedroom.  
  
She undressed quickly, slipping her bathrobe on so that she could go to the loo and finish her nightly ablutions. Since everyone else was busy downstairs, she decided to indulge in a bubble bath and then wash and curl her hair. She had just started the water and poured in the bubbles when a faint knock sounded on the door. She opened it, unsure what was wrong but thinking that someone probably just needed to use the toilet before she occupied the bathroom for a while. She was pleasantly surprised to see George standing in the hallway.   
  
"Are you all right, Cassie?"  
  
"Yes. I'm just really tired. It's been a really long day."   
  
"You're right. It seems like a whole week ago that we had our little . . . disagreement."   
  
"That wasn't a disagreement, George. It was a fight."   
  
"Okay. I've decided I like fighting with you."  
  
"You do? What does that mean?"   
  
"It means, I like making up with you. So . . ." She pursed her lips to keep from smiling.   
  
"Well, maybe I haven't completely forgiven you yet!"   
  
"I see. And is there some way I could help you forgive me faster?"   
  
"Not that I can think of." She went back to the bathtub and turned off the faucet, looking longingly at the thick suds floating on the surface of the water.  
  
"What if I gave you some suggestions?" He was teasing her now and she giggled. She stood up straight again, pulling the robe tighter around her waist.   
  
"Okay, but make sure they're good ones."   
  
"I could kiss you."   
  
"You already did that earlier - and it did help, but now that I've thought about it a bit, I'm not sure that was quite enough."   
  
"I could . . . give you a present."   
  
"No. That won't do."  
  
"Why not?"   
  
"Well, you already gave me those string things and it didn't really do anything for me."   
  
"A better present, then?" She just shook her head.   
  
"The roses were a big enough present. It needs to be something more . . . personal."   
  
"I could get down on my knees and beg." She pretended to consider but then shook her head again.   
  
"I don't want you to have to beg."  
  
"I could show you something special." She raised her eyebrows. His tone had been rather suggestive and as she was standing here in the bathroom wearing nothing but a bathrobe she felt the hot color rise in her cheeks.   
  
"What is it?"   
  
"It's in my bedroom." Her eyes got wide and she clutched her bathrobe.  
  
"Uh, I'm not sure . . . I mean, what is it?" She should just say no and kick him out of the bathroom, have a nice long soak and go to bed, but the pleading look in his eyes was hard for her to ignore. She missed him, really, which was stupid since he hadn't been far away from her today, but she did nonetheless.   
  
"It was going to be part of your Christmas present, but I could show it to you now."   
  
"So it's an actual thing?"  
  
"Well, yeah, I -" Then his eyes got wide and his cheeks flooded with Chudley Cannon orange. "Did you think I was, uh, suggesting that I, I . . ." She shrugged, embarrassed at admitting the truth to him. He winked, recovering his usual demeanor quickly. "Nice as that sounds, I wasn't being dirty with you." He took her hand and led her up one flight of stairs. She followed him up figuring she was safer that way. At the door to his room, she paused, the list of her mum's rules flashing into her brain and the one about not ever being a bedroom alone with him was practically glowing neon. And the fact she was undressed - almost - probably made it worse. Well, they'd leave the door open and she wouldn't let him touch her. They would be all right. She was afraid that if she said she couldn't go into the room he would think she was being a baby. So she bravely followed him into the room and over to the table where they did all of their inventing. He smiled at her and started rummaging through a drawer.   
  
"It's in here. I came up with it a while ago, actually, not sure when I would get it to you. But I think you'll like it." Her heart was hammering rather quickly. Whatever it was, when he showed it to her, he would probably want to kiss her, just to make sure that she really wasn't mad at him anymore and then she'd have to say no and then he wouldn't believe her and it would all be a big mess.   
  
"George, I don't know if this is the best idea."   
  
"I'll find it in a second. Don't worry. Your bath will still be there."   
  
"Well, actually that's not the problem."   
  
"Here it is." He drew a rather large box out of the drawer and set it on the surface of the desk, brushing aside some odd looking contraptions. She bit her lip as he opened the lid. Before she could look inside, though, there was a screech that she would have sworn echoed through the entire Burrow.   
  
"George Weasley! What are you thinking!?" Cassie whirled on her heel staring with shocked horror at Molly who was looking at the two of them as though she had found them in a very compromising position rather than just standing upright with about five feet of space between them.   
  
"Oh, Mum, back off. I was just -"  
  
"And you, young lady! I don't really think your mother would approve of your being in a bedroom with a boy in that state of undress! Do you?" Cassie wondered if she somehow knew she wasn't wearing anything under the robe or if she assumed that she had her pyjamas on.   
  
"No. I know she wouldn't. I'm sorry, Molly." Molly's eyes flashed at her son, but she smiled at Cassie.   
  
"It's okay, dear. I was young once, too. Come on. Hermione and Ginny were pretty worried about you. Apparently, they're smart enough not to trust George!" And an extremely embarrassed Cassie followed the tut-tutting witch out the door and down the steps leaving a spluttering red-head standing in his bedroom.


	59. Into Knockturn Alley

Chapter 59  
Into Knockturn Alley  
  
Molly left her at the landing to her own floor and she went with a slow walk toward the bathroom, wishing with all of her heart that she was brave enough to dart back up the steps and kiss George good night. When she was just mustering her courage, though, she heard Fred's footsteps on the steps and she gave up the idea. She stepped into the bathroom and thought she would probably have to dump out the cold water and run more. Ginny and Hermione were in the bathroom, though, toothbrushes in hand. It was obvious that both girls had just applied some sort of mudpack to their faces and were settling in for a long stay.   
  
"There you are! We couldn't figure out why you had run bathwater and not gotten in!" Hermione was holding some sort of magical fashion and beauty magazine and was flipping quickly through the pages.   
  
"I got distracted."   
  
"By my brother, I'm venturing to guess."   
  
"Yeah. He wanted to show me something." Both girls looked at each other and Cassie was sure they would have raised their eyebrows if they could have but the hardening masks made it impossible. "A present. That's all."   
  
"Right. Well, if you don't mind, you can just hop right into the tub and shut the curtain if you want some privacy. Then we can all talk about the meeting tonight." Ginny's words were a little muffled as she was trying not to move her mouth much. Cassie didn't have any objection to that idea except for one small problem. She had nothing on under the robe at all and if she were to take it off now both Hermione and Ginny would realize that she had been up in George's room in practically nothing. She considered several options, including saying she had changed her mind about the bath. None of them seemed like they were something either girl would actually believe.   
  
"Is something wrong, Cassie?"  
  
"Er, no. I just . . . I sort of came to the bath without my hair stuff or my toothbrush or anything. I should probably go back to the room and get it."   
  
"No you didn't. It's all right here. Did you forget?"   
  
Darn. "Yeah. I didn't see it there."   
  
"We can close our eyes if you need us to while you get into the tub."   
  
"That would probably help." Both girls dutifully closed their eyes and Cassie hurriedly removed her robe and folded it into a bundle that she hoped looked like her nightshirt and knickers would be tucked inside it. Then she climbed into the tub and sighed in contentment as the warmth immediately penetrated her cold skin. She drew the curtain slightly, leaving enough open that she could see the other girls as they spoke but she was in a bit of shadow so it wasn't like she was putting on a show. Of course, with the thick bubbles, they probably couldn't see anything anyway. "All right. I'm in. Thanks."  
  
"That's nice bubble bath. Is that the stuff George made for you?"   
  
"Yes."  
  
"I love the little explosions."  
  
"Yeah, it's very invigorating! Very nice stuff. I told him he should market it."   
  
"They would only market something like that if you were bright purple when you got out." Hermione said in her mumbly sort of voice as she turned to another page in the magazine. Ginny was staring in the mirror, carefully plucking her eyebrows and wincing ever few seconds. Cassie smiled and then, feeling relieved that she had gotten away with her indiscretion, she leaned back against the back of the tub. Unfortunately, this caused a minor tidal wave and water leaked over the edge and ran down onto the floor. That would have, in itself, been no major problem except that it wet the edge of her robe, and Hermione - figuring that hanging the robe and pyjamas up would spare them from future baptisms - picked the robe up off the floor. Of course, there was nothing in it. Both Hermione and Ginny stared at the robe for a minute then looked over at Cassie.   
  
"Uh, you have no pyjamas here."  
  
"No." Cassie was tempted to slide completely under the water and hold her breath until they left but she knew that would never work. She could never hold her breath until they forgot about her.   
  
"You were only wearing a bathrobe! You went up to George's room practically starkers!"   
  
"Ginny - shut up! The whole Burrow will know if you shriek again like that!"   
  
"Cassie, I think you are seriously-"  
  
"Look, you two. He didn't know. I'm sure he thought I had on a nightshirt. I kept the robe-"  
  
"Look, yourself. There's never been a bathrobe in existence that doesn't gape at the front."   
  
"Mine doesn't."  
  
"Uh, huh. Right."   
  
"I'm serious."  
  
"All I can say is you're lucky my mum didn't know you were in his room naked."  
  
"I was not naked. I was completely covered."   
  
"You were exactly one move away from being starkers."   
  
"Ginny, stop using that word."  
  
"Well, it's true. If the tie had caught on something or George had thought to see what his shirt looked like on you - he would have been in for a surprise!"   
  
"He wouldn't have done that!"   
  
"My brothers are anything but predictable! I can't believe you did that!"   
  
"Well, I didn't expect to meet him before I got into the tub. I mean, he was playing Exploding Snap when I came upstairs."   
  
"Don't you think you should have ducked into the room when you passed it and pulled on some clothes, how long would that have taken?" Hermione wrinkled her nose, obviously it was itching and she couldn't scratch it.   
  
"You're right, I just . . . I don't know."   
  
"You wanted to be starkers with my brother."   
  
"Ginny, if you use that word again, I swear I will drown you in this tub." Ginny just shot her a sardonic glare.   
  
"It's true."   
  
"It is not! We didn't even touch each other and the door was wide open and . . ."  
  
"I don't know what you three girls are all doing in the bathroom - in fact, I am sure that I don't want to know - but could you stop and get out? Harry and I are getting a little desperate." Ron's voice carried through the door and all three girls looked at each other with wide-eyed panic.   
  
"Ow! Harry! Well I'm desperate even if you're not!" The sound of Harry slugging Ron on the arm was pretty distinctive, even through the inch or so of wood that separated the boys from the girls.   
  
Hermione was the one who was brave enough to answer. "You'll have to wait about 10 more minutes, boys. We're, uh, trying to make ourselves beautiful for you." Ginny and Cassie both laughed, Cassie hurrying to get out of the tub and dry herself off, Ginny starting to gather up the various items they had in the bathroom.   
  
"Ten minutes!" There was veiled panic in Ron's voice. "Could you make it five?"   
  
"You're already beautiful- just come on out!" Harry was obviously trying to placate them into coming out, maybe he was a little more desperate than he wanted to let on.   
  
"Thanks, Harry!" called Ginny back in response and Hermione rolled her eyes as Ron chimed in.   
  
"Yeah, Hermione, you're already beautiful. You don't need to worry about a thing." Hermione smirked to the other two girls.   
  
"What about Cassie?"   
  
"She's beautiful, too! Can you just get out of there? Please?" Cassie hurriedly drew her bathrobe on and tied the tie. Ginny and Hermione were washing the mud off their faces quickly. Cassie looked at them.  
  
"We're all decent. We could let them in, I guess."   
  
"We could. But I doubt they want to come in to gaze in the mirror. And they won't want us in here when they come in to do . . . what they want to do." They laughed and dried their faces. "All right, boys. We're done. We're coming out." No sooner had all three of them emerged from the bathroom when Ron pushed his way past Hermione and slammed the door behind him.  
  
"He drank a little bit too much downstairs." Harry said, blushing, as all three girls looked at him.  
  
"Obviously. But you had a little more self-control?" Ginny winked at the other two girls and they all giggled.   
  
"I, uh, yeah. A bit."   
  
"Ah." The girls all giggled again and Ginny trailed her fingers up his arm. "You're rather well-known for your self-control, aren't you, Harry?"   
  
"I, uh, I don't know." He glanced at the door, a slight grimace on his face. "Ron, you almost done?"   
  
"No!" The girls giggled again.   
  
"Are we making you nervous, Harry?"   
  
"Yeah, a bit." Cassie felt sorry for him, really. He was way out of his depth with the three of them ganging up on him but since Hermione wanted to wait around for Ron to eventually emerge and Ginny obviously wanted to hang around with Harry as long as possible, none of them made a move to leave.   
  
"Hurry it up, Ron!"   
  
"Okay. Okay." There was the sound of water running and then the door opened. Harry darted through and slammed the door shut before Ron even had a chance to register what was going on outside. "What's up? Do you three need to go back in there again?"   
  
"No. No. That's not it."   
  
"Whatever." He kissed Hermione hard on the lips. "I'm going up to bed. 'Night." And he went up the stairs, whistling some tuneless little song.  
  
"We could . . . wait for Harry to come out and torment him a little bit more."  
  
"We could. But he might wait until he's sure we're gone." Ginny shrugged. "We might as well go to bed." Cassie looked between Ginny and the door.   
  
"You could at least wait for him. He'd probably be happy to see you." Ginny giggled.   
  
"Okay. Maybe I will." Cassie reached for her toiletry bag.   
  
"I'll take that for you." When she and Hermione got to the door of Ginny's room, she looked back and saw the bathroom door open and Ginny looked up and smiled. Cassie grinned and followed Hermione into the bedroom.   
  
Cassie awoke extra early on Monday morning and pulled on her clothes before heading downstairs to help with breakfast. She realized that she had been a bad guest recently and had not really been helping Molly like she had been when she had first arrived. And now was the time Molly needed it worse than ever. With Christmas now only a few days away, a house full of company and even more expected, decorating still to be done, and all the holiday baking to be finished, she would practically need a full-time assistant. She wondered vaguely if wizards could hire house-elves on a temporary basis for these sorts of busy times. Smiling at the whimsical thought, she climbed down the stairs and was surprised to find the kitchen dark and empty. Her watch said that it was about the time Molly usually started breakfast but then today may not be a usual day. She hadn't really asked when George and Fred were going in this morning. Maybe things had changed a bit, now. She listened for any movement in the house and heard quiet voices in the living room and so pushed the door open tentatively to see who was in there. It was Molly, in a dressing gown and slippers, with a big smile on her face. The reason for the smile became obvious a few moments later as Cassie's eyes followed her gaze to a figure on the couch. Charlie was here! She had never met him, but she knew his face. For one thing, he was so obviously a Weasley that it had to be one of the brothers and since she had met them all except for Charlie and Percy, she didn't have too many questions about his identity,. He was too old to be Percy and his relaxed friendly manner clearly said that he had no difficulties sitting and talking with his mother. He looked up and saw her and smiled and Cassie caught her breath. He looked very much like the twins - just a slightly older version. And he was very handsome, in a sort of rough around the edges way. She could believe that this man tamed dragons. If they were smart, they would just give up when they saw him. He stood up, looking questioningly at her.   
  
"Hi. I'm Charlie Weasley. Who are you?"   
  
"I'm Cassie. It's nice to meet you." She held out her hand and it was engulfed in a firm warm callused grip.   
  
"This is the M . . . girl I was telling you about in my last owl to you." Molly hadn't said Muggle which made Cassie feel a little better. Maybe she was being thought of more now for what she could do rather than who she was.   
  
"Oh, yes. Well, it's nice to meet you. What are you doing up so early? It is early, isn't it?" He glanced down at a very tricky contraption on his wrist that Cassie assumed told him the time. "I'm still functioning on Romanian time, I'm afraid. For me, it's almost lunch time."   
  
"She's so good to get up and help me get breakfast. Which I'd better do soon, or the twins will wind up going into work without any. Do you want to go up and take your things to your room or -"  
  
"No. I'll let Bill sleep a little longer. I'm pretty handy in the kitchen myself . . . maybe I can help."   
  
So the three of them got started quickly on pancakes. Charlie kept the two ladies entertained with stories about his dragons. Cassie still found it nearly impossible to believe that he really worked with them, sort of half expecting him to break into his deep laugh and tell her that he was only kidding, but he never did and she tried not to get too hung up on the sheer impossibility of half the things he was saying. After all, she had seen things in the last month that she would never have believed were possible a year ago. She looked up with eager anticipation as she heard footsteps on the stairs, a little disappointed when it was Fred who came down first.   
  
"Oy! Charlie! When'dja get here?"  
  
"About an hour ago, I guess. How are you doing?" Cassie pinched her lips together in vague disapproval. Couldn't Charlie even tell them apart? George practically worshiped the man. Fred and Charlie shook hands briskly and Cassie wondered if Charlie, who looked so much like the twins physically, had their same sense of humor. She hadn't seen too much sign of it, yet, but it was too soon to judge. A moment later, George practically jogged down the steps and embraced his brother with enthusiasm.   
  
"You should have told us he was here, Mum! We could have come down sooner! It's good to see you, Charlie!" Cassie smiled to herself, hiding her grin behind the pitcher of pumpkin juice she was putting on the table. If Charlie knew his brothers, there was no question now about who was who. George obviously adored the dragon-tamer. She glanced at Charlie and saw that he also looked vaguely relieved. He now knew who was who and would be able to keep them straight for the rest of the day.   
  
"Hey, George! It's good to see you, too!" He stepped back and looked him over critically. "It doesn't look like business is making you too soft - still on the broom when you can be?"  
  
"Of course! Of course! I wish I didn't have to go in to the store today! We could dig the old brooms out of the shed and have a game! With Ron, Harry, Gin, Bill, and Tonks, we could have a full-out scrimmage!"   
  
"Then take the day off and stay home with me!"  
  
"They can't." Molly said and something about her tone made Charlie's face harden and he looked at his mother.  
  
"What's up?" At the same time, George looked over at Cassie, just realizing that she was in the room and he looked a little sheepishly at her. She smiled back, though. It had been rather fun watching him without his being aware of it.   
  
"Are you ready for today?" Cassie just shook her head.   
  
"Not really. I'm scared." This was whispered into his neck as he embraced her.   
  
"It'll be all right. All you have to do is pretend to go shopping - you should be right at home!" He tried for levity and Cassie decided to humor him, although she had rarely felt less like laughing. She smiled.   
  
"You're right, of course. I'll just pretend there are designer clothes and shoes in the store windows rather than rune stones and lizard tongues. It'll be easy."   
  
"That's my girl!" he replied, bending and kissing her quickly. "I'm sorry about my mum last night. She just can't get it into her head that I'm not-"  
  
"No, it's all right, really. But do I still get to see what's in the box?" He looked at her appraisingly and shook his head.   
  
"I think I'd rather have you wait until Christmas."  
  
"Darn! If she'd only given us 10 more seconds, I could have at least seen what it was." George didn't answer her, though, because Charlie's hand came down on his shoulder.   
  
"Come on, George, Cassie. Breakfast is ready and it sounds like you're going to have a very busy day." They all sat down at the table even though Cassie didn't have to eat this early. She poured a glass of pumpkin juice and nibbled on an un-buttered pancake. She was just too nervous to eat much. George, who was sitting next to her, quietly placed his hand on her leg. She reached down, their fingers intertwined, and he gave her hand several reassuring squeezes. Cassie smiled; she appreciated his comforting gesture.  
  
The twins had finished breakfast and were just preparing to leave when down the stairs came Remus and Tonks, followed closely by Arthur. They all welcomed Charlie home and Arthur gave his son a big hug. Tonks then turned to the twins. "I'll be to your shop in about an hour, okay?"  
  
"Sure, see you then." With that, the twins were gone with the sound of two distinct pops. Cassie stared after them and felt a rush of dreaded anticipation for what was to come later that morning. Cassie sat down again at the kitchen table as the next round of breakfast was served. Everyone was talking about everything except the visit to Diagon Alley and she supposed that was in deference to her.   
  
By the time Cassie had sat through the third wave of breakfasters and had drank at least two to three more glasses of pumpkin juice, it was a little after 9:00. By then, Tonks had left to go shopping for clothes. Cassie and the two other girls helped Molly clean the kitchen, while Arthur put the boys to work decorating the outside of the Burrow with lights and other ornaments. By the time the last dish was put away and the last cupboard cleaned, it was a little before ten and Cassie was feeling the effects of her several glasses of pumpkin juice. She hurried quickly upstairs, and was just coming out of the loo when she practically ran headlong into Molly.  
  
"Oh, there you are, Cassie dear. Here's your outfit. You need to hurry and change into it, it's almost time for you to leave." She handed Cassie black robes, a long black cloak and a hat. Cassie gave Molly a puzzled look.  
  
"But why do I need these?"  
  
"To fit in, dear. You can't very well go into Knockturn Alley dressed in Muggle clothes under your school robe. You'll stand out. You need to blend in." Cassie understood and nodded in agreement. Molly pulled out her wand. "I think we need to change the color of your hair. They're looking for a blond-haired girl. Oh, don't worry, we can change it back as soon as you're done. Now, I think your hair should be very dark. Yes. There you go. That's much better." She waved her wand and Cassie felt a tingling on her scalp. She turned as she heard the other two girls hurrying up the stairs.  
  
"We can't find her anywhere . . .oh, hi, Cassie. There you are. Ooh, your hair. Wow, with your blue eyes, you really look striking - not as striking as Harry's green eyes, but still . . ."  
  
Ginny was interrupted by her mother. "For heaven's sake, Cassie isn't supposed to look striking, she's supposed to blend in and not look like herself. Now, Ginny, Hermione, take Cassie in and help her into those clothes. She needs to hurry."  
  
The three went into their room and Cassie slipped out of her clothes. The other two helped her pull on the long black robe and pulled on some black boots Ginny produced and charmed to fit Cassie's feet perfectly. The robe turned out to be a little too long and Hermione shortened the hem with a spell. Cassie then pulled on the long cloak. She pulled her black hair back into a pony tale and, at the other two girls' suggestion, pulled a few loose strands of hair down in front of her face. She finished by placing the hat on her head. It resembled the ones worn by the students at Hogwarts. However, it had a wider brim and reminded her of the one worn by the wicked witch of the west in the Wizard of Oz. Cassie looked at herself in the mirror and gave her best Margaret Hamilton laugh and then cackled, "I'll get you my pretty! And your little dog, too!" Ginny gave her a puzzled look, while Hermione rolled her eyes and shook her head.  
  
By the time Cassie and the other two girls had descended the stairs, it was almost 10:30 and everyone was in the kitchen waiting nervously. They seemed please with Cassie's transformation. Ron blushed, grinned and commented, "At least you still look like Cassie." The other four kids laughed as Molly scowled.   
  
"I hope not too much, we want her to look like the type of person who patronizes Knockturn Alley."  
  
Everyone quickly wished Cassie good luck. Remus stepped close to her and smiled down into her face. "You'll do fine today. Just do as Tonks and Moody direct you to and you have nothing to worry about." He produced the ugly little statuette that had been her emergency portkey the entire time she had been at the Burrow. "Dumbledore reconfigured this for you. It will now bring you straight back here if you need to use it today."   
  
"Thanks, Remus. I appreciate it." She looked around at the assembled group, all with various degrees of concern on their faces. "Hopefully in an hour or two, this whole mystery will be solved and we can all get back to normal." Everyone nodded and Arthur handed her a tin of kippers. She looked up at him with an bemused expression to see a twinkle in his eyes. Cassie was beginning to think that Dumbledore had a very odd but enjoyable sense of humor. She was still thinking about that when she felt the now-familiar tug behind her navel.  
  
Cassie arrived in the backroom of the twins workshop in her usual fashion. Fortunately, George, who had apparently been waiting for her to arrive, was there to help her up off of the floor and into his arms. Cassie decided there were worse things.  
  
George swung her up in his arms and placed her on an open work counter, brushing the hat off her head immediately. She smiled and snuggled into his arms as he began to softly kiss her. "Hi."  
  
"Hi. Who are you, because I was expecting my girlfriend to come, but you showed up instead."   
  
"Yeah. I met her and she said she didn't want to come because she was afraid you might want to kiss her or something. But I said I didn't mind."  
  
"Brave girl." Cassie didn't answer him after that because his mouth covered hers. His kiss was hard, possessive, demanding. Her arms slid around his neck and held him close. He moved from her mouth over her face, kissing her cheek and eyebrows and eyelids. Cassie smiled when he kissed her mouth again. "I really hate this idea. I wish you didn't have to go."   
  
"I know." He leaned his forehead against hers. "But I do. And I'll be careful. I'm sure nothing bad will happen. No one will even know it's me."   
  
"You do look different." His hands threaded through the ponytail.   
  
"Now my hair is black - I'm starting to think that you people don't like my blond-ness." He smiled at her.   
  
"I like you blond, but it doesn't really matter to me. If you like another color better or something."   
  
"No, thanks. Besides last time we had this discussion, you seemed pretty convinced that you wanted it back to normal. Or was it just that you didn't want it red anymore?" George flushed slightly.   
  
"Well . . ." and then before they could continue, he kissed her again, holding her head tightly. Cassie moaned softly into his mouth and he pulled back. "Did I hurt you?" She shook her head.   
  
"I just wish I could just stay here forever, and never have to go out there." He held her hands tightly in his large ones. He bent toward her again to kiss her but before their lips actually met, a voice came from behind him.   
  
"Hey, you two, I don't mean to interrupt, but everyone's due here in just a few minutes." Fred approached with the grin he usually reserved for the two of them when he had caught them kissing. Cassie glanced down at her watch. It was only five more minutes until 11, when this whole thing was supposed to happen. George helped her down from the counter and she grasped his arm. She didn't want to admit how terrified she actually was. She remembered very clearly how that street had made her feel and did not relish the idea of going back in there. Having Tonks beside her and it being the middle of the day would probably help, but now she was much more aware of how powerful dark magic was, also, and she may be even more sensitive to it than she was before, when she only had the slightest idea about it.   
  
The voice that announced when a customer came into the shop echoed loudly and Fred popped his head out through the curtain to see who it was. A few moments later both he and someone who Cassie thought was Tonks approached them.   
  
"Wotcher, George, Cassie." Cassie tried not to stare openly at the woman. She looked so completely different than she normally did, although her smile and the sparkle in her eye testified to the fact that it was her. "You look good, almost unrecognizable. I'm going to change, too." As they all watched, her nose lengthened and hooked, her complexion took on a pasty look, wrinkles multiplied on her face until she looked no younger than 100, her shoulders stooped, and the joints of her fingers swelled and curled. "How's that?"  
  
"You look, uh, good, I guess. I wish I could do that."   
  
"It does come in handy in this business. I have some clothes, too. Let me hurry and get into them." She stepped into the shop's small bathroom and emerged just a few moments later dressed in clothes very similar to Cassie's, which she then proceeded to rip and dirty with her wand and a few interesting spells. She did the same thing to Cassie's clothes. "Your face is too clean, by the way. When we get out into the street, I'll dirty you up a bit. Do you have a hat or anything?" Cassie showed her the wide-brimmed hat from the Burrow. "I don't know if that will really do the trick. Your face has got to be almost completely covered. Try the hood of your cape."   
  
The hat was discarded and the hood was drawn up over her hair. "How's that?"  
  
"Better, I think. It keeps your face in shadow and hides the color of your eyes."   
  
"When are we going?" Cassie tried hard to keep her voice steady.   
  
"When Moody gets here, I guess."   
  
"Okay. When do you think he'll arrive?"  
  
"I'm already here, girlie," a growling voice came from between Tonks and George. Everyone jumped and George swore.  
  
"Hell, Moody! Do you have to surprise us like that?" A low chuckle came from under the invisibility cloak. Cassie's first thought was a selfish one - she hoped he hadn't been watching her with George. That would be embarrassing.   
  
"Uh, Mr. Moody, how long have you been here?"  
  
"Call me Moody. I've only been here a few minutes -- a fact you all should have known the second I walked through the door! I followed Tonks in when she came into the store! I wanted to see how alert all of you are - and you weren't at all, which is about what I expected. Pitiful really - it could have been any dark wizard under a cloak who could have killed you all before you even got your wands out! I don't know how many times I have to say this to you! Constant Vigilance!" Everyone looked a little chagrined, knowing that he was right. Cassie was just happy, though, that he hadn't been hiding in the back room for the past hour watching her.   
  
A few minutes later, Cassie and Tonks exited the shop, followed by Mad-Eye Moody still under his invisibility cloak. As the three walked out, Cassie glanced back to see a worried-looking George watching from the doorway. His vain attempt at an encouraging smile was met with Cassie's own lackluster attempt. And then, they were out of sight of the shop and to the entrance of Knockturn Alley. Looking at it now, Cassie could not reconcile how lost she had been that night with how close the twins' shop actually was. But, she decided not to ruminate on it now. It wouldn't change anything at the moment. And she had to keep her mind on what she was doing.   
  
The pre-Christmas traffic in Diagon Alley had been busy and although people had cut a wide berth around them as they walked down the street, they had not attracted much attention as people were focused on their own tasks. Once they turned the corner, though, it was like they had entered a different world. Here, their clothes were even more appropriate because almost everyone was swathed in yards of dark material and no one had their faces uncovered. And yet, everyone was busy glancing around them trying to figure out who else was in the Alley. Cassie wasn't sure if this was just so they knew who to avoid or if it was so they could decide who to hex, but either way, it didn't help their mission any. Christmas cheer was decidedly lacking here and she guessed she could understand that. The type of objects someone would buy down this Alley were hardly conducive to holiday making. "Here, Mum. Look what I got you. A shrunken head. Isn't it lovely? I saw it and thought of you!" Yeah. Probably not. Tonks pulled Cassie over to an even darker corner, bent over, and picked some mud up off the road. She then proceeded to smear it over her face and then brushed it off. She did the same thing with her hands.   
  
"That'll darken your skin a bit. And, uh, here. I know it's not pleasant, but it will keep people at a distance." Tonks handed Cassie a cloth which absolutely reeked. Cassie tried not to gag.   
  
"What am I supposed to do with this thing?"   
  
"Put it in your pocket."   
  
"What is it? Oh, never mind! I don't think I want to know." She stuffed it in her pocket and she blinked back the tears that formed as the odor overwhelmed her sense of smell.   
  
"You'll get used to it in a few minutes."   
  
"I sure hope so. If not, I may die before we get there."   
  
"Come on. The quicker we get this done, the better." Tonks leaned against her and Cassie had to support her weight. She was sure that to anyone looking they would look like a couple of old hags out for an illicit grab of some sort of forbidden material. Great. Well, at least their disguises were appropriate. She saw Dung on one side of the street, talking to people who looked furtively around before talking to him and she realized why he was so perfect for this mission. He was obviously at home in this Alley. Not a comforting thought, really.   
  
Cassie tried to look around at the stores with a bored eye, like she was used to seeing shops selling things like petrified body parts, man-eating plants, poisonous draughts, etc. At the same time, though, she had to keep the panic from overwhelming her. As they got further and further down the Alley, the feeling of dark foreboding got stronger and stronger and it was all she could do to keep walking. One time, she thought she saw the store, but as she and Tonks got closer to it, she realized that it couldn't be the right one because there were a few steps down to the door and she knew she had not climbed or descended any steps that night. "It kind of looked like that, though. The door and everything . . . Oh, I'm afraid I don't remember."   
  
"Don't worry. We're only about half-way in. We'll find it." As they hobbled along slowly, Cassie tried not to stare at the people on the street, knowing that making eye contact would definitely be a bad thing. There were many people on the street dressed similarly to her and Tonks and they were selling all sorts of disgusting items that Cassie tried hard not to think about, including one old woman selling what looked disgustingly like human fingernails. Cassie was positive she had not come this far into the Alley. She remembered running as fast as she could out that night, but it hadn't taken her very long to emerge back onto the main street. She told Tonks as much, but she was shushed by her bony deformed hand.   
  
"We're walking slowly. If you were running fast . . . you can't really judge. If we get to the end and don't see the shop, we'll come back."   
  
"I need to rest. You're rather heavy for a 200-year-old woman."  
  
"Hey, I'm not a day over 190." Her wheezing laughter, combined with the air of oppressive darkness on the Alley, the cold, and the stares of the people on the street all combined to give Cassie the willies, and she shuddered for a moment. She turned to look for Dung and to speak quietly to Moody who she heard directly behind her when she saw, out of the corner of her eye, a shop tucked into a cranny that she had overlooked the first time. Instantly, her heart rate sped up and her breath caught. Even Tonks, still laughing at her own joke, noticed and shut up immediately. "You see it?"   
  
"Yeah. It's the one with the black door. There."   
  
"Ah. Let's sit down for a moment." There were some moldy-looking benches in the middle of the road framing a dead tree. Cassie supposed that at one time this was supposed to look inviting but over the years as the tree had died and the benches had fallen into decay it had definitely lost its appeal. Dung wandered over to the black door as though it was just a place that looked interesting, opened it, and called in to the shopkeeper. Cassie and Tonks stood and hobbled over to the neighboring shop which happened to sell (much to Cassie's horror) jewelry bewitched to kill its wearer, particularly effective (the sign announced) for getting rid of troublesome Muggles. As they stared at the window display with feigned interest, Cassie looked over into the open door and knew with a distinct sick feeling in the pit of her stomach that they had found the right place. Dung was talking animatedly with the shopkeeper now, apparently trying to barter some dragon scales for a lovely set of crystal bottles on display in the window. He was trying hard to get the shopkeeper to come outside so Cassie could take a look at him without his really seeing her, but he was having a rough time as the man apparently didn't trust him much. Smart man.   
  
"Look, you wretch. The last set of manitcore eggs you sold me were all bad. I wound up taking a loss on them and what's more, I angered one of my customers, who threatened to roast me alive. And I don't think he was kidding. It took me a great many Galleons to make him happy again, let me assure you."   
  
"I'm sorry 'bout that, dreadful sorry. How was I to know they'd gone bad? After all, I was just the middleman in that transaction."   
  
"You mean you stole them, failed to take good care of them or store them properly, and then passed on your troubles to a poor man trying to make naught but an honest Galleon or two."   
  
"Well, I . . . yeah. You're right. I'll make it up t' you this time, though. Why don't I just give you the dragon scales. They're really lov'y ones. Got 'em from a dragon tamer just last week and he assured me they're of the finest quality."   
  
"I'd need to see them - test them."   
  
"Of cour', of cour'." You're a man of business." Tonks was getting agitated now. They had been standing too long by this window and the shopkeeper had noticed their attention and was heading to the door to invite them in. Cassie knew that something had to be done immediately or they risked having the man go back into the shop. She took a deep breath and backed away from the window with the glittering malicious jewelry and walked right over to Dung.   
  
"Are you Mundungus Fletcher?" She kept her hand concealed in the folds of her cloak, but poked Dung in his chest with her index finger.   
  
"I . . . yes, I . . . am." Tonks was looking wide-eyed at Cassie who turned and looked directly into the face of the owner of the shop where she had almost lost her life three weeks ago.   
  
"Don't do business with him, sir. He's terrible dishonest - sold plain Firewhiskey to me brother and claimed it was -" but she didn't have to finish because the shopkeeper closed the door firmly on the blabbering girl, not wanting anything more to do with the scene in the street. Tonks grabbed Cassie's arm, hauling her away from the shop and a startled-looking Dung. "It was him. Definitely. He was there." Cassie gasped as they walked as fast as their disguises would allow back toward Diagon Alley.   
  
"You cost me dear, girl! You owe me! And don't think I won't be collecting!" the small-time crook yelled at their backs. But Dung walked away from them muttering about snooty witches and no one on the street paid any more attention to the two women walking painfully away from him.   
  
"What were you doing, girlie?" The growl was deep in her ear but she ignored the threat in Moody's voice.  
  
"He didn't know it was me. I was doing what you sent me in here to do. And I did it. Let's just get out of here."


	60. Repercussions

Chapter 60  
Repercussions  
  
It wasn't until Cassie and Tonks got out of the Alley and were walking rapidly toward the twins' shop that she realized how terrible she had been feeling in Knockturn Alley. She had suppressed, she supposed out of sheer necessity, the feeling of evil that permeated the very air in that street. But now that she was out of it, she noticed the difference. Tonks was muttering under her breath the whole way and Cassie could have sworn that she heard a few choice swear words coming form the invisible space that was Moody. Basically, it all added up to the fact that they were not happy with her, not happy at all. Cassie could understand their being upset, but she had done what she needed to do and she had identified one more of the conspirators. This might be the one that broke the entire plot open, so it was worth it. And made a silent vow to herself that she would not apologize for what she had done, no matter how much everyone else yelled at her.   
  
That vow was tested almost immediately upon arrival at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes because George was the one yelling the loudest when he heard what happened. Upon entering the shop, everyone in there looked at the two "hags" immediately (and probably smelled them) and made a quick exit. At fist, Cassie was unsure why but then remembered that both she and Tonks stunk to high heavens. Fred, who was manning the counter while George was restocking the shelves, waved them frantically toward the back. "Please, for the love of Merlin get back there and get cleaned up."Cassie willingly went toward the storeroom, not particularly anxious for George to see her in this state. She felt grungy and she knew she stunk. But she had not had a chance to even get rid of her hood before George was back there. He moved to embrace her but then drew back, eyes watering.   
  
"What the . . . you didn't stink like that when you left!"  
  
"No, she didn't!" a much nicer-looking Tonks exclaimed as she peeled off her top layer of robes and extracted the stinky cloths from both her pocket and Cassie's, burning them quickly with that ever-handy blue flame. "But she had to look and smell the part! Although I don't know why we went to all the trouble to get her in disguise . . ."  
  
"Ye're right, Tonks!" an angry-looking Moody chimed in "since she just pranced up to the scum as bold as you please and looked at him."  
  
"What!!!" George's face turned bright red instantly and Cassie really wished she could use the emergency portkey to get away from this entire scene. "What did she do?"   
  
"She walked right up to the man she thought was the right one and looked directly into his face." Moody and Tonks went on to tell the story, although Cassie interrupted frequently because it seemed to her that they were telling all the bad parts but leaving out the good ones.   
  
"It's not as bad as it sounds, honestly, George. I had to. He wasn't coming out of the shop!"   
  
"So you couldn't have waited! You should have trusted Tonks or Dung to figure out some way to get you to have a look at him!"   
  
Cassie bit her lip, wanting to yell and scream but thinking that it was probably not really the best idea. He hadn't been down there, having everyone look at him, having all sorts of disgusting things around him, knowing that at any moment . . . Well, he just couldn't understand. "Fine. I was an idiot. Now that that's generally agreed upon, can I get out of these nasty clothes and back to the Burrow, please!" But it was a good 30 minutes before she actually got to portkey back to the Burrow because everyone needed a chance to yell at her, including Dung. Cassie wanted to shoot back at him that it was rich that he should be yelling at her about her behavior, but she didn't. She just stood still and let everyone yell. She was proud of herself in one thing, though. Well, two things. First of all, she didn't cry, even though George wouldn't touch her (not that she blamed him) and she could tell he was mad. Second, she never did apologize. She wasn't about to do that, no matter what sort of guilt they heaped on her head. She had done what she needed to in the situation, and none of them could understand.   
  
When she finally did get back to the Burrow, she didn't say anything to the crowd gathered in the kitchen, just stalked up the stairs and directly into the bathroom. She figured Tonks, Moody, and Dung could tell them everything they needed to know. She was going to take a bath. A very long bath. With bubbles. And when the water got cold, she was going to dump it out and run another one and stay in it until she turned into a prune. If anyone wanted her before then, they would know where she was. She actually wound up standing under a hot shower for a few minutes before she even started running the bubble bath, realizing that she wouldn't want all that dirt in the bath with her. She scrubbed and scrubbed at her skin with the soap and washed her hair at least twice, wanting the black out of her hair, feeling that it was somehow dirty, too. The dirt came off her skin all right, but of course her hair stayed black. By the time she sunk up to her neck in the hot fragrant water, her anger had dissipated and she just let the tears that had been pricking at the back of her eyes since she had left Knockturn Alley finally flow. She cried and cried, not even bothering to wipe them away. It was just too much effort.   
  
After a very long while, there was a quiet knock on the bathroom door. She didn't answer, knowing it was locked and just wanting whoever was out there to go away. But a few moments later, there was another soft knock and then the lock clicked and Ginny poked her head in the door. "If you're here to yell at me, don't bother. Just go away."   
  
"I'm not here to yell at you. I came to see if you were all right."   
  
"I'm fine. Now go away." She knew Ginny could tell she had been crying and she turned her head away and studied the wall.   
  
"I brought you some clothes. I'm going to take these foul things away and burn them."  
  
"Okay." She was studying a flaw in the tiling where whoever had installed it had mis-measured and wound up putting a strange-sized tile in an upper corner.   
  
"Do you want me to change your hair back?"  
  
"No. Don't bother. Someone will just want it to be purple next week. I've actually forgotten what color it was originally." She sniffed and studied the tile more carefully. Ginny didn't answer or anything, just muttered something and Cassie felt a tingling in her scalp indicating that the spell had been undone.   
  
"I'm sorry everyone was giving you such a bad time." The tears that Cassie was desperately trying to hold back overflowed and she kept her head turned away from Ginny, not wanting her to see how upset she was.   
  
"I probably deserved it."   
  
"I don't think so. And neither do the rest of us. The adults can talk all they want about being cautious and careful but we all know that sometimes you have to seize the moment. Harry said he thought you were gutsy and Hermione's got her ire all up about them putting you in that situation but not trusting you to do what's best. Ron says you were bloody brave, and I agree with him." Cassie finally turned her head to look at Ginny.   
  
"George is mad at me."   
  
"Ah, that's the real problem, then?" She nodded miserably.   
  
"I bet he's not really mad at you as much as scared out of his mind. Harry sometimes gets that way with me. He'll get over it." Ginny sat down on the toilet lid. "See, there's something you need to know about boys - or men, really."   
  
"And you're an expert?"   
  
"Well, no, but I have realized this sad truth."   
  
"Please go on, enlighten me."   
  
"They like to think they can be there to protect you all the time and if you are in some sort of danger, then they feel like they've somehow failed in their manly duty and they will often take that out on you, like you did it on purpose."   
  
Cassie laughed softly. "That doesn't make any sense."  
  
"Since when did boys make sense? Since never!" Ginny stood up and gathered the dirty robes into her arms. "He probably would have snogged you senseless if you hadn't been quite so . . . pungent."   
  
"I don't think so."   
  
"Well, we'll see when he gets home tonight. And just so you know, Dumbledore is here with more photographs, including a few of that shopkeeper. So come down when you feel up to it."  
  
"Is he mad at me?"   
  
"It's sort of hard to tell with him, but I don't think so. He seems actually really happy. He said something about it answering one of his questions quite satisfactorily."   
  
"What does he mean by that?"   
  
"I honestly have no idea." Ginny left with the smelly robes and Cassie looked at what she had brought her instead. Jeans and one of her favorite jumpers and she had even thought about socks and shoes. So, when the bath water was too cold for comfort, she got out and dried herself off, slipping into her clothes and feeling much more human than she had a while earlier. She looked at her hair. It was blond again although it was, of course, wet and straight. She quickly braided it and although she didn't have any makeup with her, she thought that she looked presentable enough to go downstairs.   
  
She descended the steps warily, unsure of who would be waiting for her at the bottom. Actually, no one was. The kitchen was empty and dark. There was a plate on the table though with a note indicating that the sandwich was for her if she felt like eating. Cassie wondered what that was about but then glanced at her watch and realized it was after 2 o'clock in the afternoon and that she hadn't eaten anything all day except for a few bites of dry pancake several hours before. As though it had been waiting for a signal that it would be noticed, her stomach growled and Cassie picked up the sandwich and ate it. It was really good and she felt much better afterward. She got a drink of pumpkin juice out of the fridge and then took a few minutes to wash and dry the plate and cup. She knew that she was just delaying the inevitable, but she didn't care.   
  
She took a deep breath and pushed the door open into the living room, unsure of what to expect in the way of a reception. She had thought she would see a large group of people staring at her with accusations in their eyes, or at least with curious expressions. But instead, the room was fairly full, but no one was even looking at her. Everyone was busy doing their own thing and Cassie entered practically unnoticed. At some point that morning, a large Christmas tree had been brought into the house and several people were hanging decorations on the branches. Hermione and Ginny were stringing popcorn and Ron and Harry were busy cutting glittery paper into interesting shapes. Professor Dumbledore was busy levitating a large star to the top of the tree while Remus and Tonks were magically attaching candles to the ends of the branches. Charlie and Bill were setting up a small Christmas village on the mantel where it was already snowing (handy little charm for this time of year). She stood there for a second looking around before making a quick beeline toward the girls and sitting down next to them.   
  
Of course, her entrance had been noted and her momentary hope of joining in the popcorn stringing unnoticed was dashed when Professor Dumbledore called her name and everyone stopped what they were doing to look at her.   
  
"Uh, hi. It looks really nice."  
  
"Thanks." Molly moved out from behind the tree to where Cassie could see her. "Arthur always gets the most lovely Christmas trees."   
  
"Oh, yes. This one is lovely, Arthur." She glanced around but he was nowhere to be found.   
  
"He's not here at the moment. He told Charlie he was going to go out to his shed to get some Christmas presents finished up. And it's about time, too. He can't wait much longer."   
  
"Oh. Well, I'll try to remember to tell him later." She tried to ignore Dumbledore, but it was hopeless and a few minutes later, he was standing in front of her, but he smiled kindly and she felt fairly confident that at least she wouldn't be yelled at.   
  
"I've brought some additional photographs that I was hoping you would be willing to view."   
  
"Yes. Ginny told me." The two of them went into the kitchen where Professor Dumbledore sat at the table and pulled a small packet out of his robe pocket.   
  
"The name of the shop where you think the meeting took place is "Cadwalder's Curiosities" because the proprietor's name is Curzen Cadwalder and you've seen the sort of things he sells. He is well-known as a seller of dark magic items."   
  
"Yeah, uh, yes. He seems to have a lot of that sort of thing." Cassie looked down at the top photo of the pile that Professor Dumbledore was getting ready to show her. "That's him. He was there that night. I'm sure of it."   
  
"Yes. That's Curzen all right. Let me show you another photograph of him, if you wouldn't mind. He's not the main subject of this photograph and I'd like to see if you can pick him out."   
  
"All right." Cassie was curious. Didn't he trust her identification this time? He hadn't asked her to do this on any of the others.   
  
This photograph had obviously been taken in Diagon Alley, in front of a building that looked like the bank, although Cassie wasn't sure. There was a group of wizards and witches waving at the camera and hamming it up. Cassie didn't recognize any of them although the photograph looked older so she doubted she was expected to. She studied it carefully. "No. I don't see him. Is he here?" Professor Dumbledore didn't say anything and Cassie looked at the photograph again. As the wizards and witches waved at her again she caught a movement at the side of the photo and turned her attention away from the center. There it was again. Someone had walked out of the frame. This time, she focused all her attention on that one spot, scrunching her eyes up to see more detail. A wizard crossed the street behind them and then left the frame. "Is that him?" Again, no response and she wished that she could somehow still all the movement in the foreground of the picture to allow her to focus all her attention on the background. This time, when he moved across the street, she stared at his face. "Yes, that's him . . . I'm, oh!" She saw, this time, what Professor Dumbledore had obviously been hoping she would confirm. "That's the wizard with the bad limp!" She watched him cross the street again and again, remembering how one of the men three weeks ago had hunched over, dragging his foot behind him. "That's him. I'm positive."   
  
Finally, Dumbledore spoke. "Yes. I was hoping that this was the man you described. When you first mentioned the limp I had someone else in mind completely. But after checking his alibi and connections, I had discarded my original idea So, I was at a loss as to who it could be until Moody told me you had identified Cadwalder. Then I remembered that he also has a bad limp and he has had for years."   
  
"Is that the question you told Ginny I had answered?"  
  
"Yes. That limp had been nagging at me. There aren't that many wizards around with limps that severe as healing even badly broken bones is quite simple for anyone with a modicum of medical magical training. However, certain types of wounds are resistant to magical healing and I thought that this must be one of them. But I was at a loss of where to start looking, so I am pleased that particular piece of the puzzle has been found." Professor Dumbledore indicated the other photographs in the stack.   
  
"These are some other photographs of known family, friends, and business associates of Cadwalder. I was hoping that you would be willing to look at them." As Cassie was beginning to expect, she was able to identify no other wizards in the photographs, even though she tried really hard to look at each face carefully, hoping that a cursory glance had allowed her to overlook them to begin with. But no. She was positive that none of these men had been in Knockturn Alley that night.   
  
"I'm sorry, Professor. I don't recognize anyone else."   
  
"No need to apologize. You are doing quite well as it is. We'll find everyone soon, I'm sure."   
  
"And we have whatever potion it is you're making if we need it later."   
  
"Yes . . . there is that." Cassie felt a small prickle of nerves at his words. He didn't seem as confident now as he had when they had spoken earlier about this. But then he said, "Yes. Yes." And she felt a little better. "Miss Robinson, I just want you to put this out of your mind as much as possible now for a few days. Enjoy Christmas. It's a magical time of year and some Christmases . . . well, some are particularly special and should be savored like a precious gift, not rushed or ignored."   
  
"Um, okay." This was a strange conversation and she wasn't sure how to answer him.   
  
"There are still some Christmases in my long life that I look back on and treasure. Do you find that hard to believe?"   
  
"No. I mean, I'd never thought about it. All Christmases tend to sort of blur into one for me." Of course, she knew this one would be special because of George and everything. She just wasn't sure she wanted to admit that to the Headmaster.   
  
"Perhaps. But will you do as I ask?"   
  
"I'll try." His eyes twinkled at her and she could feel herself blush.   
  
"Are you two finished?" Molly bustled into the kitchen. "Because I really need to start dinner if we hope to eat tonight but if you need more time, I can wait a little longer."   
  
"No, we're done, Molly. I'm sorry to make your evening more difficult."   
  
"Nonsense. And you will be staying for dinner." She glared pointedly at Professor Dumbledore. "I know for a fact that the house-elves have the week off and that you'll be just surviving on whatever you can nick from the kitchens. I'm not taking no for an answer." The Headmaster put up his hands in surrender.   
  
"If you insist." He smiled at Cassie and winked and Cassie wondered if he had arranged to be there at dinner on purpose. Molly was a very good cook.   
  
Cassie stood up and started helping with dinner, which was going to be fried chicken, a family favorite. Molly was cooking enough for a small Army and when a few moments later Ginny and Hermione came in to help, Cassie was glad to see them. An hour later Molly had Cassie start setting the table; Cassie had to count twice before she knew how many plates to set. Fourteen. She looked at the small table and hoped Molly could expand it large enough to fit that many people, not to mention the huge amount of food that was ready to go on. "Molly, I need to set 14 plates. Could you expand the table, please?"   
  
"I'll take care of it." Hermione waved her wand at the table and it expanded to just about fill the entire kitchen. "And we'll need some chairs, too."   
  
"Hermione! The gravy's burning!" Ginny yelped and both girls turned back to their work at the stove. Cassie set the table carefully, retrieving cups and silverware, napkins and salad plates as she watched the three witches at work on the dinner. She smiled to herself vaguely. It wasn't that she couldn't cook a meal like that, it was just that they were faster by using magic. Molly hadn't minded Cassie's slower ways when it was just five of them for dinner, but with the house full of people and meals needing to be prepared and cleaned up quickly, more and more often she found herself doing something like this, setting the table. And she couldn't even do that by herself because the table needed to be expanded and she had no way to get the extra chairs they would need before everyone could sit down. Of course, she could just sit down in one of the chairs already there and let everyone else take care of conjuring their own for the evening. They could all handle it.   
  
George and Fred apparated into the kitchen just as Molly was putting the last of the meal on the table and even though George looked at Cassie through the crowd, they didn't have a chance to talk before Hermione offered a quick grace and everyone dug in. This was the first meal in a long time they hadn't managed to sit next to each other, either, but as she had sat in the "real chairs" she had been flanked rather quickly by Ron and Harry who both said they didn't do furniture very well. Remembering what Ginny had said about the disappearing beds Ron had conjured once, Cassie believed them. The food was good and the company was pleasant, but Cassie would have ranked this meal as one of the more depressing ones she had eaten at the Burrow. She kept looking at George and he wouldn't meet her eyes. Then, sometimes when she was taking a bite of food and her attention was on her plate, she would feel his eyes on her but when she would look up again, he was talking to Fred on the one side or Tonks on the other. Honestly, she thought, if someone asked her later what she had eaten that night, she may have said sawdust for all of the pleasure it gave her. However, she forced a smile on her face and heard herself talking politely to people who asked her questions and she heard herself complimenting Molly on dinner. As if watching herself from a distance, she also saw herself helping with dinner clean-up when everyone pitched in to get the dishes done as quickly as possible so that they could relax in the living room and enjoy the Christmas decorations that were now complete.   
  
As she watched Harry dry the dishes efficiently with a drying spell before Ron directed them into the cupboard, Cassie smiled to herself, remembering how bad George was at doing this little homemaking magic. He would have to practice before he and Fred could move out on their own if they had any ambition to ever do so. She looked around the crowded room to tell him this, but he wasn't in sight. "Where's George?" she said to Fred, not caring that he smiled and winked.   
  
"Don't know for sure but both he and Ginny headed out of here a few minutes ago."   
  
"Oh. What did they-"  
  
"Don't know. Sorry. Maybe it's something for Christmas?"   
  
"Maybe." She smiled at him faintly. She wanted to go find George. For one thing, she really wanted to clear the air between them. What Ginny had said earlier made a lot of sense, but she wanted to tell him - well, she didn't know what, but she would figure it out when the moment came. They weren't in the living room. She climbed up the steps listening carefully for voices. She didn't know if they actually were talking together, but she thought they probably were. Of course, they could have used a silencing and locking spell on any door in the house and she'd have no way of ever finding them. It wasn't until she reached the twins' floor that she heard George's voice and she walked eagerly down the hall toward it. If Ginny was in there, then she could go in there to talk to him and maybe Ginny would even help get things straightened out between them. She was a sensible girl and a good friend.   
  
The door was partly open, but the two voices carried clearly out into the hall. Cassie had raised her hand to knock when she heard her name and paused, figuring she had better not interrupt them if they were discussing Christmas presents.   
  
"You need to tell Cassie that."   
  
"She already knows."   
  
"No she doesn't. She was crying this afternoon and do you know why?" There was no answer, but Cassie thought George may have just shook his head. "Because she thought you were mad at her. With everything else going on, that was her biggest concern."   
  
"Well, I-"  
  
"She makes a big point of telling everyone that she knows the two of you don't have a future together, George. But I think she's fallen for you in the worst way - and you need to tell her what you are feeling before it goes any further."   
  
"What do you mean?" His voice was low, almost growling.   
  
"I don't want you breaking her heart! So if you have no intention of this going any further than a casual kissing fest, you need to -"  
  
"You know what, Ginny! I'm sick and tired of everyone assuming that I am some sort of a cad! You're like the 20th person to try and warn me off her!" Cassie didn't know what to do. She knew that she should turn right around and go back downstairs, but her feet wouldn't move. It was like they were glued to the floor and she wondered if this section of carpet was set up as a sort of trap to catch people wanting to go into the room without permission.   
  
"Well, George, can you blame us?"   
  
"I sure as hell can!"   
  
"George, I love you. You know I do. And I-"  
  
"I'm just a big goofball, right? That's what Hermione said! And she may be right but I am not goofing off about Cassie. I like her. A lot. Why isn't anyone ever worried about what she is going to do to my heart when she leaves? Huh?"   
  
"I guess -"  
  
"I was scared out of my wits today when she was gone! She has no way to defend herself! Do you understand that? She goes off on these little missions with nothing, not even a fake wand, to defend herself! She needs a . . . gun, yeah that's what it's called! And then she comes back to the shop and says she didn't do anything wrong?! How was I supposed to react? If something happened to her, I would just . . . I would just . . . ." His voice trailed off and the next few sentences were muffled and Cassie couldn't hear what he said or what Ginny said in response. Cassie stared at the door, her throat thick with unshed tears and she wanted nothing more than to push open the door, rush inside, and wrap her arms around him. But she didn't. She pulled her feet off the carpet and found they came away quite easily. She turned around and went back down the stairs.   
  
"Didya find 'em?" Fred asked. The room was almost empty now. There were only a few more big pans to wash and most of the cleaning crew had already abandoned ship.   
  
Cassie shook her head. "No. I don't know where they went."   
  
"They'll turn up soon, I imagine."  
  
"You go on out into the living room and relax, dear. You've had a tiring day." Molly smiled kindly at her and Cassie smiled in response, but pushed open the door to the living room and found an empty spot on the couch. She drew her legs up onto the cushions with her and wrapped her arms around her knees, resting her chin on them. One thing George had said kept playing over and over again in her mind. "Why isn't anyone ever worried about what she is going to do to my heart when she leaves?" That was a legitimate question and she had never even thought about it. She knew he had had girlfriends in the past and assumed that when she left he would be sad for a few days and then face life again with his quirky brand of humor that seemed to get him through all the bad times. She had only ever thought about protecting herself from the certain heartache, but had actually given up that pretense a long time ago herself. She was just going to enjoy being with him and when the inevitable heartache came, well, she would deal with that, too. But she hadn't even thought about him. Maybe she was the one being a selfish prat. Maybe she should tell him . . . what? That she didn't like him? Maybe even love him? He'd never believe her anyway. She was still lost in these ruminative thoughts when the object of her attention sat down next to her, uncaring that he pushed whoever it was sitting next to her into the arm of the couch.   
  
He didn't say anything to her, just wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her over so that she was leaning against him. She let her knees go and she shifted so that she was more sitting on the couch rather than curling up in a ball on it. His hand rubbed her shoulder over and over again and although he didn't say anything to her, she relaxed into his embrace and allowed herself to stop thinking. Like Professor Dumbledore said, some Christmases are more special than others. And she intended to make this one as special as possible. She would deal with all of her tangled up, jumbled emotions later.   
  
The evening passed quickly, neither of them speaking to each other and not really saying anything to anyone else either. The family and all of the visitors sat around talking about Christmases past and people and places and gifts that didn't mean much to Cassie. They were happy memories for the most part although when Harry told about his Christmases with his horrible relatives, the room got very quiet and somber. Cassie felt a pang of embarrassment for Harry because he had been trying to be funny, it just hadn't come out the way he planned. But Remus made a comment that made everyone laugh and a moment later the jovial mood of the room was restored.   
  
George never stopped touching her, though, and she felt no great need to move away from him. He held her hand or rubbed her neck or back or shoulder. He played with the end of her braid for a while which she actually enjoyed although normally when people did that it drove her insane. She periodically saw people in the room looking at the two of them and when she caught a puzzled expression or a concerned glance, she just smiled back. She was tired of trying to pretend they weren't involved. George never hid it from anyone and it wasn't fair to him that she should either. Most people tried to look at them slyly, like they just happened to be looking around and their eyes fell on them and they were going to look elsewhere in a moment. Harry looked at them directly though and smiled broadly. Cassie flushed. Ginny also met Cassie's eyes without flinching and it was Cassie that looked away first that time, a little embarrassed about eavesdropping on the conversation from earlier. The only one who really looked at the two of them in complete shock and amazement and kept looking again like he wanted to make sure the touching hadn't been a trick of the light was Ron. She tried to smile encouragingly at him, but he wouldn't meet her eyes, so she gave up after a few minutes. She wondered if George was in for another lecture later. Poor guy.   
  
It was quite late by the time the group started to break up. Bill was the first to call it a night, reminding everyone that Fleur was coming tomorrow and that he didn't want to look a mess. Charlie followed him up soon after, explaining that the time difference was brutal and that he was completely exhausted. Tonks had looked vaguely panicked when Bill had mentioned Fleur's eminent arrival and her noisy whispering to Hermione about wanting some help getting Bill's room in shape in the morning made Cassie giggle to herself as Tonks practically ran into the kitchen and they could all hear her noisy ascent of the staircase. Arthur and Molly went next and Remus followed almost immediately as he was the last "grown up" in the room unless you counted George and Fred, and nobody did.   
  
All seven of them looked at each other for a minute. "I can't wait until Angelina gets here tomorrow night," Fred groaned. "It's me and Charlie who are the bachelors this year. Usually I at least have George to see me through."  
  
"Don't forget Remus," Harry said. "He doesn't have a girlfriend." There was silence after this and Harry could tell that he wasn't being told something. "Well, he doesn't . . . does he?" Ginny whispered something in his ear and he turned beet red. "Oh. Oh. Okay. Okay. Yeah." He stumbled for a minute and to save him from more embarrassment, Ginny stood up.   
  
"I always like a nice cup of hot cocoa before bed when I'm home. I miss it at school." And as if by unspoken invitation, they all adjourned to the kitchen, where Ginny handed out mugs to everyone and started boiling the water. It was several minutes later, when they were all sipping their cocoa in comfortable silence that Ginny spoke again.   
  
"By the way, Cassie . . . today when you were, uh, out, I got an owl."   
  
"Oh, really? From whom?"  
  
"Elspeth. She wanted me to say hi to you if I should happen to talk to you or owl you over the holidays."   
  
"That's nice. But I guess you better not tell her hi back. Too bad. I really like her."  
  
"Who's Elspeth?" George asked before he took another sip of cocoa.  
  
"My roommate."  
  
"Oh, yeah. I remember her. She's cute." Fred stirred his cocoa. "A little young for me though. Not much of a -"   
  
"Fred!" George scowled. "You were just talking about Angelina coming. You are a flirt! And you're right about her being too young for you! She's Ginny's age."   
  
"She's my age." Cassie said quietly, staring down into her cocoa cup like it would reveal the secrets of the universe. "She's actually older than I am by a month." There was a bit of a stunned silence.   
  
George's hand tightened on her knee, where it had settled in the last few minutes. He smiled. "A lot of people are under the mistaken impression that Fred and I are twins, but actually he's like three years older than I am, just underdeveloped and scrawny for his age." Everyone laughed, even Cassie.   
  
"Oh, well that's okay, then. I was worried for a minute." And she smiled at him, purposely letting her brightest happiest grin out. He reciprocated and she shoved that entire dialogue into her subconscious, where she could deal with it later. "So, what else did Elspeth have to say?"  
  
"Well, she's having a bit of a miserable holiday, really. Can't wait to get back to school."   
  
"Does she miss Colin so badly, then?"  
  
"I'm sure that's part of it, although I think her family is giving her a lot of grief over the relationship, too."   
  
"What's the deal?" Ron asked. "Her folks don't like hyperactive photographers?"   
  
"No. It's just that she's a pureblood, you see." There was no need for further elaboration.   
  
"Is he Muggle-born or half-blood?"   
  
"Muggle-born."   
  
"That can't be good. So they're ticked as hell?"  
  
"Yeah, Fred. That pretty much sums it up." Ginny's voice was flat. Hermione flushed and Ron patted her hand.   
  
"It's too bad some pureblood families are so stupid. They miss out on some great things." Cassie looked bemusedly at Ron. That had to be the sweetest thing she had ever heard him say. He could sure be surprising at times. Hermione flushed a little deeper, but she looked pleased.   
  
"What happened the week I was gone? More of the same?"  
  
"Yeah. She got a little braver, ignored Saffron. They even had a little one-on-one time in the Astronomy Tower."   
  
Fred whistled sharply and looked impressed. "That had to cost some serious blunt!"  
  
"What are you talking about?" Hermione asked and since everyone else looked as confused as Cassie felt, she looked at Fred, too.   
  
"Uh, well . . . you know, it's usually reserved weeks in advance for the week before Christmas." He took a long sip of cocoa as if hoping the conversation would move on while he was involved. It didn't.   
  
"Actually, I don't think any of us knew this. How did you?" Fred looked at George in a panic at Ron's question and when Cassie glanced up at the boy by her side she was startled to see the exact same look of mild concern on George's face as was on Fred's.   
  
"Uh, well. Uh. It's common knowledge. When you get to be 7th years, you'll know. . . ." His voice trailed off as he looked at the three other 7th years around the table. "Yeah." Fred took a deep breath. "All right! If you must know - George and I kept the books."  
  
"What?" Everyone asked at once and there were at least two mouthfuls of cocoa spit across the table.   
  
"We kept the books, the reservation books. So. There you go. It was always booked solid by Halloween. And if someone wanted a space on short notice, and there wasn't a cancellation . . ."  
  
" . . .you have to bribe the reservation person. It's a Ravenclaw this year." Cassie smiled faintly when everyone else looked at her in shock.   
  
"How much is it, George, to get a last minute spot, let's say . . . two weeks before Christmas break?"   
  
"Oh. I don't remember. Sorry. Not so much."   
  
Fred answered at the same time, though, and they hadn't coordinated their stories. "10 Galleons, minimum, and it may go up for prime locations and times."   
  
"I see. I bet that helped keep you in quills and dungbombs, then." She stood up to go get some more cocoa and Ginny turned in her seat to watch her go.  
  
"Did Malfoy . . . tell you this?"   
  
"Who else wanted to get me up in the Astronomy Tower?" She leaned against the kitchen counter and looked at the six of them, leaving her new mug of cocoa sitting there, untouched. "He told me he had bribed the Ravenclaw to give him a reservation. This was the afternoon of the library thing."   
  
"Ah. I see." Ginny sounded like she was about to launch into a long-distance curse against Draco. George scowled in frustration and anger.   
  
"We kept the books honestly. We didn't play favorites, and the bribes were more for a sort of deposit to make sure they showed up than anything." Cassie raised both shoulders in a shrug.   
  
"So it was refundable, then?" There was (of course) no reply. She sighed. "It doesn't bother me that you kept the books, boys. It was going on long before you got there and will probably still be going on when your great-grandchildren go to school there. I'm heading up to bed." For some reason, she felt very tired and she wasn't up to any verbal sparring tonight. George stood up to follow her but she just waved her hand in dismissal. "I'm beat. I'm afraid I wouldn't be good company." Before she disappeared up the steps, though, she turned around and looked back down at them. "Fleur is coming tomorrow, right?" Everyone looked rather disconcerted at the sudden change of topic. "Will someone, anyone, please tell me what a Veela is before she shows up with six heads or something and I embarrass myself by looking shocked." And then she took the final step and left the soft light of the kitchen below as she climbed the last set of steps and into bed, where she fell almost immediately asleep.


	61. Fleur and Angelina

Sorry this is so late. I just got into town and I've had no internet access for four days!! Yes, it has been very traumatic. This chapter is extra long to make up for it. Enjoy! And please leave some

feedback.  
  
Chapter 61  
Fleur and Angelina  
  
Cassie didn't awake until morning and only reluctantly got out of bed then. However, she knew today was going to be a busy day and she felt bad having a lie-in when Molly would be scurrying about down in the kitchen trying to get breakfast. So, Cassie stumbled out of bed, put on her bathrobe and quietly gathered her things for the bathroom. The other two girls were still sleeping soundly when Cassie exited the room. She was not surprised to find someone waiting to get into what was proving to be one of the most popular rooms in the house. Charlie smiled.  
  
"Well, there're several of us who get up early. Of course, I have an excuse. I'm still on Romanian time."   
  
"When are you going back?"   
  
Charlie raised an eyebrow at her. "Anxious to get rid of me after just one day?"  
  
She laughed. "Not at all. I just wondered if you were going to be here long enough to adjust back to British time."  
  
The door to the bathroom opened and Bill came out, nodding hello to both Charlie and Cassie. That reminded her about Fleur's eminent arrival and she opened her mouth to ask Charlie about her. He seemed like a nice man and he certainly would know what a Veela was. But Charlie wasn't in the mood to visit obviously because he headed for the open door. "I'm not leaving until next week." And then he shut the door behind himself and Cassie was left standing in the hallway. By the time she showered and dressed to go downstairs, both Ginny and Hermione were awake. Hermione had promised Tonks she would help get the room straightened up this morning for Fleur because Tonks said she was dismal at housekeeping charms. Hermione didn't look very pleased about this, though, and after she left Cassie asked Ginny why.  
  
"She doesn't like Fleur at all, as you may have heard. So helping Tonks get ready for her is a great sacrifice."   
  
"That doesn't really sound like her - what's the story?"   
  
"All right. I'll tell you, but please don't ever bring this up in front of either Fleur or Hermione. I don't think Fleur even . . . well, it all has to do with Ron, you see. A Veela is a magical creature that looks like a really beautiful woman most of the time, kind of like a Siren, you know. But they are very attractive to men - anything male almost goes into a trance around them. It's really strange. Of course, if they get mad, they turn into snarling, angry, terrible monsters, but I don't think Fleur does that. She's only part Veela, I think on her grandmother's side if I remember correctly what Harry told me. Anyway, she is really beautiful, I mean really beautiful. I at least feel like an ugly goat when she's around."   
  
"So that's why Hermione-"  
  
"No. That's not it. At least that's not the main thing. The main thing is that Ron had a major crush on Fleur when he first met her. He swears it's just the Veela charm, that he was caught up in it and couldn't help himself, but Hermione doesn't really believe him."  
  
"But-"  
  
"Yes, she is a lot older than Ron, and believe me when I say that she never had any interest in him at all. She turned him down cold when he actually was insane enough to ask her to go to the Yule Ball with him. But, despite that, Hermione doesn't like her. And like I said, I think Fleur is so used to having men and boys fall all over her, that she hardly even remembers Ron asking her. But he does, of course, and it took him a long time to even dare be in the same room with her. And I doubt Hermione will ever like her."  
  
"So, she went to Hogwarts? I'm sort of confused about that part of this story."  
  
"Oh, no. She's French. Not that you couldn't go to Hogwarts if you're French, but why would you? I mean they've got a pretty good school there, I guess." Ginny looked a little put out, like she hated to admit that the school was decent in any way.   
  
"They have their own magic school in France?"   
  
"Yeah, and they sent this delegation for the Tri-Wizard Tournament - remember that's when Harry had to fight the dragon? - and she came and she was their champion and that's where Bill met her."   
  
"So, I guess she doesn't have six heads." Ginny laughed.   
  
"No. Although Hermione might disagree." Cassie laughed this time and both girls headed down to see if Molly needed help getting breakfast on the table. Much to Cassie's chagrin, Molly was glad for the help but told them that the twins had already gone into the shop.   
  
"They are opening early today because they are closing after lunch and won't open again until after Boxing Day." Cassie felt particularly bad because she had been able to kiss George goodbye every morning and after last night she had especially wanted to see him off today. She hadn't known they were closing the store early today, though, so that was good news. Molly put both girls to work immediately and when Hermione came down a little later after helping Tonks she got recruited as well.   
  
Molly was quite distressed because she had so much to do today to get ready for Christmas. Cassie also suspected that it had something to do with all of the various arrivals over the next couple of days although she was not really brave enough to ask. Bill came down looking really handsome in a set of dark blue robes that Cassie thought looked pretty dressy and informed his mother that his fiancee was due any moment. There was a hush in the room as they all stared at him and then a bit of a panic as they hurried to get breakfast on so that she could sit down and eat with them if she really did apparate in soon enough.   
  
Cassie was just putting the last of the bacon on the table when the requisite pop sounded through the small room and a young witch appeared in the middle of the kitchen floor. She was, as Ginny had led her to expect, stunning. Bill hugged her immediately, lifting her off her feet and spinning her quickly as they kissed. When she was set back down on her feet, she nodded at Molly, Ginny, and Hermione. "Eet ees so good to see each of you again. Thank you for allowing me to veezeet." The accent was faint, but Cassie could definitely tell she was French. She stared at the girl for a minute. She was tall and slender, her hands and arms graceful as they fluttered to emphasize her point. Her skin was pale white, not unhealthy looking or anything, but just making her look like a living porcelain doll. Cassie hadn't really had a chance to see her face but knew it wouldn't make any difference. Her robes were elegant, the pale-blue material looked soft and smooth and hung on her frame like a designer gown. She had delicate white slippers on her feet and Cassie wondered if she only apparated to get from one place to another, because they were totally unsuitable for a British winter. She had some type of cloak on over her robes, an expensive-looking pale fur that again seemed more for show than actual practical use. But the most amazing thing about her was her hair. She had a sheet of perfectly straight silvery-blonde hair that shimmered in the sunlight of the room and swung in unison as she moved her head to greet each of the kitchen's occupants in turn. Then, as if she sensed Cassie's study of her, the girl turned to look at her and Ginny's description of feeling like an ugly goat in her presence slammed home right to Cassie's stomach.   
  
She wasn't vain, she really wasn't. But she was used to being told that she was pretty and never felt like she had anything to be embarrassed about in the looks department. But this girl was absolutely the most beautiful thing Cassie had ever seen and she felt like a gauche awkward lump as she faced her. Her face was as delicate as the rest of her had looked, the features refined, blending into a whole so pleasing that it was as though she had been computer-generated as the world's ideal of loveliness. "'Ello. I do not believe I know you."   
  
"No, I-" Bill stepped up next to his fiancee and Cassie gulped and didn't finish her sentence. The two of them together improved on the two separate individuals, each complementing the other in a way so incredibly amazing that Cassie just stared. His height and breadth, the simple solidness of him, made her look even more willowy and delicate in turn. Her coloring, a study in pastel hues of blue and silver, made his dark reds and browns stand out even more. They were both tall, and she could tell that were they to embrace again, she would fit exactly under his chin. She closed her mouth because she suddenly realized it had been hanging open.   
  
"This is a good friend of Ginny's. She's staying with us this Christmas. Cassie, this is Fleur, my fiancee. Fleur, Cassie."   
  
"I am pleeezed to meet you, Cassie. Did I meet you at 'Ogwartz?"   
  
"No, I-"  
  
"Cassie is being taught at home, Fleur. She doesn't attend Hogwarts."   
  
"I see." Cassie gulped. She felt as though she had been judged and found somehow inadequate and she wanted to run upstairs and make herself look somehow more presentable. She really wished she had put on makeup and maybe something more elegant than this jumper and her jeans. The girl smiled and it was a friendly one but then she turned away to speak with Molly again and Cassie felt herself sag as if released from an interrogation.   
  
The rest of the household drifted down in the next few minutes for breakfast and Cassie watched as Fleur greeted each person cordially and they all returned the favor. Tonks was by far the most agitated and Cassie felt a spurt of sympathy for her. She was going to be in the same bedroom, for heaven's sake. Tonks was naturally pretty (Cassie thought, although it dawned on her that she may never have seen her in her natural state) and could make herself look as beautiful as Fleur if she wanted. The thing that would set them apart, no matter how lovely Tonks looked, was that - despite how hard she tried - she was a klutz. And when compared to the innate grace of the French girl, it was sort of like comparing a penguin to a swan. Cassie felt sort of disloyal saying this because she thought Tonks was wonderful. But it was true. And as Tonks tripped over the table leg making her way to her chair and then spilled pumpkin juice all over her lap, she obviously knew it to be true as well.   
  
Fleur was a picky eater, wrinkling her nose at the sight of the eggs and bacon and picking instead at fruit and toast. Cassie glanced at Harry once and he mouthed something at her. She looked questioningly at him, but Ginny, who was sitting next to her, translated. "Thees food, it eez all so 'eavy!" she whispered in her ear and Cassie had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. She remembered now that Harry had told her about the French girl who had done nothing but complain about Hogwarts's food. She hadn't connected the two, but now that she did, it made perfect sense. Hermione made no acknowledgment of the French girl's presence and Ron studiously avoided looking in Fleur's direction. The older men, Arthur, Remus, and Charlie, seemed to be the most friendly to her and after what Ginny said about her Veela blood, Cassie wasn't surprised. Not that they were fawning all over her or staring at her with glazed eyes, but they seemed the least threatened by her "appeal" and so seemed to be able to relax around her. There was no question that Fleur was very polite and friendly, she just had a sort of aloof air about her that explained a lot about what Molly had said about her since Cassie arrived at the Burrow. She really couldn't imagine this spun-sugar vision scrubbing dishes or washing a kitchen floor, even with magic. She wondered how she and Bill were going to manage a household. Of course, maybe she wasn't always this . . . elegant. Maybe she was nervous about being on show, too, and so was projecting this sort of fancy persona to compensate. Either way, though, it was obvious that she and Bill were desperately in love with each other.   
  
It wasn't any sort of hero worship or anything. Bill looked at her with stars in his eyes, but he didn't pander to her pickiness. In fact, he insisted that she eat at least one piece of bacon and some eggs so that she didn't offend his mother. She pursed her lips in displeasure, but she did as he said and as a reward he kissed her. She giggled and seemed pleased with her prize. She called him "Beel" with a sort of lilt in her voice that actually made Cassie a little jealous. She had found a man she loved and they were perfectly comfortable together. Cassie revised her earlier opinion. Maybe they could afford to hire a house-elf and then she wouldn't have to worry about the dishes or the mopping. Then she could sit and just be admired 24 hours a day.   
  
Halfway through the breakfast, Charlie stood up rather abruptly and walked out of the room. Cassie didn't think that much about it as he returned a few moments later. But then, Arthur got out of his chair and left the room only to return smiling himself. Remus smiled knowingly at them but they both smirked at him when a while later he repeated the action. "Fleur, turn it off. When Remus is affected, it's a bit too strong." Fleur scowled and Cassie had the fleeting thought that she even looked pretty when she did that.   
  
"I don't do eet on purpose, Beel. Am I not allowed to be attractive to you?"   
  
"You're always beautiful to me, darling." Cassie chanced a glance over at Ron and Harry who were both staring at the girl with a certain sort of trance-like awe that almost made Cassie laugh. Ginny prodded Harry with her fork and he blinked, flushed, and started eating again. Hermione kicked Ron under the table (maybe harder than she really needed to as he let out an involuntary yelp of pain) and he flushed bright red and finished chewing the food he already had in his mouth. Cassie was tempted to smirk and laugh at the boys' predicament, but remembered that George was going to be around this vision of perfection starting at lunch today until she left and she may not deign to give the time of day to Ron, but certainly George and Fred were closer to her age. Cassie stopped smiling now and suddenly could empathize a lot more with Hermione's opinion of the newcomer. She also vowed that she would be looking much more presentable by the time George arrived home at lunch. After all, even if she felt like a shapeless lump next to the Veela, she didn't need to look completely like one.   
  
Well, that had been the plan. Of course, it didn't work out that way. The morning, even with its early start, seemed to just fly by. Molly needed help cooking several dishes for the next day and Cassie, Ginny, and Hermione all got recruited for that duty. Cassie didn't know what Fleur was doing, but she certainly wasn't helping with any of the cooking or cleaning duties. Maybe she and Bill were just off snogging somewhere. Cassie needed to get all of her presents wrapped today and by the time 11:00 rolled around, she was starting to feel fairly worried that this would never happen. She did commit to at least get George's things wrapped before he got home. That way, he couldn't pester her about helping her wrap or sneak in on her while she was wrapping his presents. She knew full well that a locked door would not keep him out if he really wanted to see what she was doing. So while lunch was being prepared, she left Hermione and Ginny setting the table (still no sign of Fleur anywhere) and ran up to her room. She smiled as she withdrew the packages for George out of her trunk as well as the wrapping paper and something called spello tape, which Hermione told her should work just as well as regular tape.   
  
She wrapped the chocolate Quidditch set first, carefully cutting the wrapping paper Molly had given her and using the tape as Hermione had instructed. The paper was obviously wizarding paper because the gingerbread men on it decorated and undecorated themselves over and over again. Molly had warned her not to actually cut through one of the little men or the affronted one would cause an uproar amongst the others until none of them were doing what they were supposed to. Cassie had laughed at first but Molly had assured her that she was completely serious. The tape worked really well, too, sealing all the edges tightly and even making her wrapping look professional. Then Cassie drew the other bag out of her trunk and looked at it for a few minutes. She was still unsure about this gift. She thought it would be useful for him and had been planning on it for a while. But it was so obviously Muggle that she thought he might not like it. She had asked Hermione to have her parents get one and send it to her and it had only arrived two days ago. Hermione was more than happy to send her parents an owl with some of Cassie's stash of Muggle money and Cassie had been grateful. Corresponding with her parents was so difficult now that she had abandoned all hope of having them pick it up which had been her original idea. Well, she had no option now. It was much too late to shop for another present.   
  
She cut another piece of wrapping paper and was thinking so hard about whether George would like her present or not that she forgot about being careful to cut around the gingerbread men and accidentally cut off a little foot. By the time she noticed, half the paper was in rebellion and several of the little men were making very obscene gestures at her. So, she wound up having to cut a whole new piece and re-wrapping the present. She thought that if she were in charge of buying wrapping paper, she would never buy it with figures on it of any sort - no Father Christmases, no little elves, no teddy bears, no caroling children, nothing. It might be boring to just have plain paper with maybe candies or something on it, but at least you wouldn't have to worry about cutting around the designs. What a pain. She laughed as she imagined having Father Christmas making obscene gestures at whomever was opening the presents and made a promise to herself that she'd be more careful the rest of the day. She didn't want her mother or father to be offended by the wrapping paper. There would be plenty of other things to worry about.   
  
She stashed everything back in her trunk, deciding that she needed to get downstairs to help finish lunch now and then maybe she could come back up and finish wrapping the rest of her presents later. She was particularly worried about the ones for her family as she would obviously be giving them their presents tomorrow as opposed to Thursday. She was so excited to see them that she wished they were actually coming today. She was nervous, too, of course, because she hoped that her little brothers behaved themselves and she really really hoped that her parents liked George If they didn't, she didn't know what she would do. She stood up and stretched, just as a tentative knock sounded on the door. She opened it, expecting Molly or possibly Remus or Arthur telling her it was time for lunch. Instead, George was standing out there, looking rather sheepishly at her. She grinned widely and he smiled back.   
  
"Hello, George. I'm sorry I missed you this morning. I didn't know you were going in early today or I would have hurried faster."   
  
"I missed you, too. The whole morning I kept thinking that you were mad at me and would be even madder that we hadn't had a chance to say goodbye." He took her hand. "Are you done in there?"   
  
"Yeah, for the moment." He tugged her gently out of the room.   
  
"I'm sorry about getting mad at you yesterday. I shouldn't have . . . I don't know, taken it out on you or something." Cassie smiled, remembering Ginny's words to her. They would definitely have to talk about her being able to take care of herself later, but right now . . . . She wound her arms up around his neck.   
  
"I'm not mad anymore." He grinned and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him.   
  
"You're sure?"   
  
"Pretty sure." She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. "Of course, I may have to be convinced to completely forgive you." She kissed his jaw and cheek, liking the slight rasp of his skin under her lips. He stroked her hair with one hand and spread his other over her back, holding her close to him.   
  
"I see. You need more roses then?" He was smiling as she kept kissing his face. She shook her head slightly.   
  
"No more roses. Mine are still beautiful." He laughed then and kissed her back. He stepped forward and she felt the hard door behind her. His hands slipped out from behind her and cupped her face. She closed her eyes as his mouth settled more firmly over hers. He felt solid against her and she moved her hands from his hair down to his shoulders, where she could feel his muscles bunching under the smooth material of his shirt. His mouth left hers and trailed over her jaw. "You're doing a good job convincing me." His low chuckle sent shivers over her skin.   
  
His hands moved up into her hair, holding her face still as he returned to her mouth. "I actually came up here to tell you lunch is ready . . . but I think I've decided I don't want lunch."   
  
Cassie felt a sudden stab of embarrassment. "Your mum sent you up here?"   
  
"Mm." He made a nondescript answer that confirmed her concerns. She pushed gently on his shoulders.   
  
"We've got to go downstairs then. They'll all know what we're doing."   
  
"Don't care." He mumbled again and shut her up quite effectively by kissing her hard.   
  
"George," she mumbled as he lifted his face to come at her mouth from a different angle . He smiled and kissed her again.  
  
"Just another second, then we'll go down. Promise." She opened her mouth to protest and he gently closed his teeth on her lower lip. Her eyes, which had been half closed in enjoyment of the kissing, flew open and she froze. He drew back and looked down at her. She instinctively soothed the slight sore spot with her tongue, staring up into his flashing eyes. "Did I hurt you?" She didn't even know how to answer him. It hadn't hurt much. It had just surprised her. She shook her head faintly. He growled as his eyes fastened onto her tongue, again testing the spot on her lip. "I probably shouldn't have done that. You just . . . I just . . ." His breathing was heavy and fast.   
  
"It's all right. We . . . better go downstairs." She was surprised to hear how breathless she was. They both stared at each other for a minute.  
  
"Yeah. We better. For one thing, you need to meet Angelina. And, of course, Fleur's here, too."  
  
Suddenly Cassie remembered. She had wanted to dress up a bit, do something with her hair, get on some nice clothes, something. Now if anything, she actually looked worse than she had this morning.   
  
"I can't go down there. Not like this. Is Angelina pretty, too? Oh, I just . . . I can't believe I forgot. Tell everyone I'm not hungry. I'll be down in a few minutes." She turned to push the door open but George caught her arm.   
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"I . . . I was so busy today that I . . . well, okay. Seeing her . . I just felt like a complete slob. And I realized that I had just thrown on an old comfortable jumper and my jeans and just my plain old trainers and my hair was straight . . "  
  
George put his hand over her mouth. "Quiet. You're getting yourself all worked up over nothing. Come on, you look fine." She scowled and pushed his hand away.  
  
"Fine is not what I was going for. I wanted something more like stunning."   
  
"Well . . ." He appraised her with a small smile. She pushed on his shirt, knowing he was kidding. "What's made you worry about that? You never have before."   
  
"I have so . . . really. But you should have seen her this morning. I felt like a disgusting mess."   
  
"Since Angelina just apparated here with us, you must mean Fleur."   
  
"Of course, Fleur. Is she still wearing that blue chiffon thing?"   
  
"I didn't notice what she was wearing."  
  
"You didn't?" Cassie, despite herself, felt a small bit of pleasure at his words.   
  
"No. I was just looking for you."   
  
"I'm still a mess."  
  
He brought his hand up to cup the side of her face. "I think you look lovely. And that jumper is . . . fantastic." His eyes roved over it and she felt heat rush up into her face. "Yeah. You could just wear that every day and I wouldn't complain."   
  
"George! I want to look nice for you."   
  
"I've known Fleur for four years. I know what she looks like. If I wanted to date someone that looked like her, I would. I don't. She's a little bit . . .much."   
  
"She's pretty."   
  
"Well, I can't disagree with you because I'd be lying, and you'd know it. But you're pretty, too. Now come on down or Mum will seriously be sending a search party up after us. Either that, or coming up herself." Cassie flushed, knowing what Molly would be thinking if she went to all the trouble to come up here to get them.   
  
"Okay." They linked fingers and descended the steps. Everyone was sitting at the table and everyone's eyes turned up to look at them. Cassie wanted to turn around and run back upstairs when she saw that, but George gripped her fingers tighter and she forced a smile. She looked around for the strange face, wanting to know what Fred's girlfriend looked like. She saw her and tried not to stare. She was pretty, in a Tomboyish way. Her hair was smooth and her dark eyes were flashing with laughter. She looked fun and like someone that Cassie would really enjoy getting to know. The thing that completely surprised her is that she was black, her skin the color of coffee with milk. She was quite sure that no one had told her this.   
  
George led her over to the two empty seats at the table which was now, Cassie noted with some sense of foreboding, filling the entire kitchen to seat 15. She had no idea what they were going to do tomorrow when they had at least six extra people here. They sat down and Harry passed the tureen of soup over to George, who served Cassie and then himself. Angelina smiled at her broadly, her teeth flashing white against her dark skin. "Hi. You must be Cassie. I have heard a tonne about you."   
  
"Thanks. You must be Angelina. I've heard a lot about you, too." They both smiled at each other and Cassie felt a sudden sense of bonding with this girl, just by virtue of the fact that she was dating Fred and knew what Cassie had to put up with in the way of practical jokes and his sense of humor. Lunch passed quickly with Angelina keeping the entire table laughing with stories of her internship at someplace called St. Mungo's. It took Cassie a while to figure out that St. Mungo's was a hospital and Angelina eventually told her that she was studying to be a sports healer, a Medi-Wizard, and work for a Quidditch team.   
  
"I wanted to play professionally. Thought I might have a chance, but I realized that I wasn't really cut out for it."   
  
"You play Quidditch?"   
  
"Yeah. I'm a Chaser. Well, I was at Hogwarts." Fred squeezed her hand.   
  
"You were one of the best, Ange. I mean - we won the Cup, didn't we?"   
  
"And we'll win it again this year, trust me!" Harry announced to muted groans around the table. "No, seriously! It's in the bag!"   
  
"We'll believe it when we see it. I seem to remember having the same conversation last year!" A friendly debate ensued over whether this year's team had a chance against Ravenclaw. .   
  
"Do you play, Cassie?" Cassie looked with some surprise at Angelina.   
  
"Uh, no. I don't. I do like to watch, though."   
  
"Well, good." Fred banged his hand on the table "After lunch, we need to have a scrimmage! We have almost enough people here to field two entire teams." There was applause and cheering around the table. Cassie felt a surge of excitement. She was going to get to watch Quidditch again! Everyone ate quickly and even though everyone offered to help with the dishes, Molly shoo'd them outside, saying they needed to take advantage of what little light and warmth was available at the end of December and she would deal with them herself. Everyone went out onto the field, even the rest of the adults, and Fleur ran upstairs and changed from her pale blue robes into jeans and a jumper, which Cassie thought was a lot more practical. She still looked beautiful, but not quite as ethereal as she had before.   
  
Cassie didn't understand what method they used to pick teams, but when the debate ended, the teams were such: The Dragons, with Charlie as Seeker and captain, were playing against the Hippogriffs with Harry as captain. They had tried and tried to convince Hermione to play but she had refused, saying that she needed to keep Cassie company. Angelina had even tried to convince Cassie to take the last chaser spot, but Cassie had laughingly declined saying that the teams were more even without her. George had told her after lunch that as a precaution they were telling Fleur, Angelina, Percy, and the Grangers that Casisie was a Muggle-born witch who was getting trained by a private tutor at home. So Cassie had run up and dug her wand out of her trunk and it was now tucked securely into her back pocket where everyone else had theirs. Ron was playing Keeper for Harry's team with Arthur and Bill as the two Beaters and Ginny and Angelina playing the Chasers. They said they could play fine with just two, and Charlie's team had Tonks and Fleur. George and Fred were playing the Beater positions for Charlie with Remus as the Keeper. Everyone put on some protective gear although there wasn't enough for everyone to have a full set. Brooms were dusted off that hadn't been played with for a long time and Hermione and Cassie laughed as some of the older people launched into the air, barely holding on in some cases. After a few minutes' warm-up though, everyone was looking pretty decent and Charlie brought out the case of balls.   
  
Now that this was Cassie's second Quidditch game, she had an idea of what to expect and even though there wasn't any commentary this time around, it was very enjoyable to watch. She mainly focused on what George was doing although she also tried to keep an eye on Harry and Ginny. She didn't need to worry about keeping an eye on Ron because Hermione was doing that and Cassie got enough commentary from her. She also watched Angelina, who was very good. Ginny was a really good Chaser, also, so between the two of them, they were flying rings around the other two. Although the weather was definitely cold, Hermione had set up quite a nice little warming charm around the two of them and the sun felt good on her face.   
  
"This is fun. Thanks for staying down here with me. How come you don't like to fly?"   
  
"I don't know. I just don't like being up there in the air. I don't like the feeling of being at the mercy of that little stick of wood. I know how to fly. Ron and I sometimes go up. But, it's not enjoyable for me, not like for Ron or Harry or even Ginny for that matter."   
  
"I hope you didn't stay behind just for me."   
  
"No. If I had wanted to go up, I would have. I really am not a big Quidditch player either. Trust me, Angelina and Ginny are better up there without me."   
  
"I'd love to play. I love being on a broom. It's the greatest thing ever." They fell into a long period of silence, then, because the yells and calls from the air drew their attention to a dramatic series of plays. George flew down once close enough to wave and yell hello and she waved back, smiling broadly. "I could watch this forever."   
  
Hermione cleared her throat and Cassie felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. She knew Hermione enough to know that this meant she was about to launch into a lecture and she really wasn't in the mood to hear one right now. She was about to tell Hermione that, but it was too late. Hermione spoke up first. "Cassie, I actually wanted to talk to you privately for a little bit."  
  
"What about?" Cassie hoped it wasn't what she expected.   
  
"You and George." Cassie nodded. Just as she suspected.   
  
"I really think you're making a mistake; I don't think you've really thought this through. I know this isn't easy for you to hear and you probably don't want to listen to me, but I think you should." Cassie closed her eyes for a second. She was right. She really didn't want to hear it, but she also knew that Hermione was pretty smart. And as a Muggle-born witch, she certainly knew what she was talking about. So, she could at least do her the courtesy of hearing her out.   
  
"I'll listen, Hermione."   
  
"Are you ready to completely give up your other life?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You just have to understand that if you were to have a serious relationship with George, you would have to give up everything from your Muggle life."   
  
"Why? Why does it have to be that way?"   
  
"I don't know. Maybe because while we are perfectly aware of Muggles and their lives, they are not aware of us. So, wizards can accept Muggle-borns into our culture okay and teach them the differences and accept that they don't know things and be patient with them as they learn. But it is really difficult for wizards to go over to the Muggles to live, not as wizards. They can pretend to be Muggles and it sometimes happens, but they have to practically give up their magic completely. So it wouldn't be fair, it really wouldn't, for you to ask George to do that. And yes, he could go visit your parents, who know about him, but no one else." Cassie thought for a few minutes as she watched George fly above her. "You couldn't introduce him to your friends or other family members. They would want to ask about what he did for a living, what sort of education he had, about his family, etc. You'd either have to make up a whole story about him, or just never introduce him. He'd never be able to fit in."   
  
"But, I still don't understand why not."   
  
"You remember Ron at Harry's place last summer?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well, that should answer all your questions. It might be different if he was Muggle-born himself. But he wasn't. He doesn't know what it's like. It's really hard for us to adjust, even when we know we're supposed to fit in. Because it's not just a matter of not doing magic where anyone can see. It's a whole different world. I even have a hard time when I go home for brief visits. He could go for a few days, maybe, but not much longer. You'll see what I mean when my parents are here tomorrow. We just don't have much in common anymore."   
  
They both looked upward and watched the players wheel around in the blue sky. After a few moments, Hermione started speaking again. "Please don't get me wrong. I love my mum and dad and I know they love me. It's just that our lives are so different. We really don't have much in common. And let's face it, Cassie. It would end up being the same for you. You wouldn't ever fit in there again. But you really wouldn't fit in here, either. Because no matter how hard you try, you can't ever do magic."   
  
"I know." Cassie stared hard at the frozen grass around her, wishing she could just pretend that Hermione was completely wrong. "I don't know that he wants to get that serious with me."   
  
"I think he would if you allowed him to think you had some future together. He as much as told Ginny that yesterday."   
  
"Ginny told me that Muggles and wizards get married all the time."   
  
"It happens. But it's not really easy. And usually the Muggle is the one who has to make all the sacrifices. I just want you to know what you're getting into. Because George isn't ever going to give up this world. He may say he would for you, but he wouldn't be happy."   
  
Cassie felt the tears in her throat. She knew that Hermione was right. It was fun to imagine all sorts of possible ways that she and George could be together, but it wasn't realistic to think of planning a whole life around those imagined schemes. But her determination to tell George this was forgotten a few minutes later when he flew down and stopped right by her. "Hop on. I'll take you up."   
  
"No. I couldn't."  
  
"Come on. I won't let the Bludgers hurt you."   
  
"Are you sure?" At his nod, she stepped over to the broom. "Should I be in the back or the front?"   
  
"The back. I've still got to do the Beating."   
  
"Who's winning?" She yelled as they climbed back up into the air. It had been almost a week since they were last on the broom, but as she wrapped her arms tighter around his waist, she realized that she never wanted to go that long again without flying.   
  
"Harry's team is, actually. But I think Charlie will get the Snitch. And yes, I know Harry is great, but you've never seen Charlie play." They had reached the altitude now where almost everyone else was playing. They were all laughing and teasing, cheeks pink in the wind and cold, yelling catcalls at each other as the Quaffle was tossed back and forth. It was a very different experience being up here with so many other people. Ginny passed by and then stopped in mid-air to say hello. Fleur flew by, too, and started to say hello, but then had to peel off as Bill sent a Bludger hurtling toward George, trying to make Fleur miss the Quaffle Tonks had just sent her direction. The Bludger did its job and Angelina stole the Quaffle in mid-air just as George hit the Bludger toward her. She stuck her tongue out at him and flew off toward the goal, easily getting it past Remus.   
  
Cassie had the greatest time of her life for the next half-hour. George made the Beating look easy, although she felt the strength behind his wielding of the bat. She got to call out to Ginny and Harry every once in a while when they got close enough to each other and she even saw the Snitch once, although she didn't get to see either Harry or Charlie try to catch it because it was gone just a split-second later. She laughed along with George when Tonks tried a tricky maneuver to get the Quaffle and missed completely. She missed the drama completely when Charlie finally caught the Snitch and ended the game. Harry's team took the loss with good grace and all of them landed on the grass laughing a few moments later, gathering up all the balls and other equipment. Angelina was standing next to her as she took off her equipment and handed it to Fred.   
  
"You looked like you were having a great time up there."  
  
"Yeah, I was! I love flying!"  
  
"You should play, then. In a game like this, it wouldn't have mattered if you weren't very good."   
"You're probably right. But I wasn't sure."   
  
"You and George are cute together." Cassie blushed slightly.  
  
"Thanks." They started walking back toward the house as they saw the twins heading over to them.   
  
"So, how did you two meet?"   
  
"She came into the store one day with Ginny and it was love at first sight for me. I think it took her a little longer." George grabbed her hand and pulled her close. "In fact, I'm still trying to convince her I'm worth the effort." Angelina laughed at the look on Cassie's face.   
  
"Well, I think Fred's worth it, although there are times . . . "   
  
"Hey!" Fred grabbed her and kissed her firmly. "You know you love me."   
  
"Yeah! I do, but I could still talk myself out of the insanity."   
  
"Never! I'm an addiction. So's George! Right, Cassie?"   
  
"I'm with Angelina. There's still hope for me." Angelina looked at her and smiled.   
  
"I think it might be too late for you, actually. I think you're a lost cause now."   
  
"I hope she is!" said George and Cassie laughed as he spun her around into his arms. "I hope you're right, Ange! I hope she's completely lost." Cassie gently disentangled herself, knowing that his hopes were realized, because she was completely lost and never wanted to be found again.   
"You really fell in love with me at first sight?" she asked shyly as they entered the Burrow, stepping over a pile of stuff where everyone had left their wet cloaks and scarves and hats piled by the door.   
  
"Yes. I didn't want to admit it for a while, but I did. What about you? No, don't answer that. I don't want to know about then. I want to know about now." Despite the light tone of his voice, Cassie could sense the anxiety behind his question. She reached up and brushed some hair out of his eyes. She hesitated for a moment as she wasn't sure what to say. She was mercifully saved when Molly came into the kitchen and yelled up the stairs.   
  
"Come down here and get this stuff picked up! Severus will be here in a half hour and he doesn't need any more excuses to disparage us!" George looked over at his mother.   
  
"Snape is coming here?"   
  
"Yes. He's supposed to be bringing something for Arthur. And I want you and Fred to behave yourselves. I do not want a repeat of his last visit!"   
  
"Don't worry." Molly apparently took this as an assurance of good behavior but Cassie knew that he actually just meant they wouldn't do the same trick again. If she had been Molly, she would have made the twins promise to stay in their room until Professor Snape left, but maybe she had learned the futility of that as well. George glanced at the pile by the door. "Is any of that yours?" Cassie shook her head. "Good. Let's go find Fred."   
  
"George! You heard what your mother said!"  
  
"I heard. Come on!" They climbed the steps quickly and found Fred and Angelina in the twins' room, snogging without embarrassment. It was nice to be able to interrupt them for once. Cassie and Angelina both smiled as the boys outlined the plan for playing another prank on the Potion Master.   
  
"I'll be you, again. Let's switch shirts," said Fred, immediately pulling his over his head. George nodded and pulled his own off. Cassie tried not to blush when she saw that Angelina didn't even blink at the sight of the two bare chests.   
  
"Okay. You go down and wait at the kitchen table. I'll wait up here."   
  
"I'm going to bow out of this one, boys. I'll go unpack my stuff and have a bit of a rest. Come and get me, Fred, when you're done."   
  
"All right, Angelina. Are you sure? We can put you to use."   
  
"Thanks, but I'll pass."   
  
"Anything I can do?"   
  
"Sure!" George and Fred outlined their plan and Cassie couldn't help but smile at its deviousness. Twenty minutes later, Fred was sitting down in the kitchen waiting for Professor Snape to apparate, wearing George's shirt, and George and Cassie were sitting up at the top of the first flight of stairs, waiting for their signal to descend. They could see everything, but no one could see them unless they actually started up the steps.   
  
"How much longer, George?"   
  
"I don't know. Are you nervous?"   
  
"A little bit."   
  
"Don't be. You'll be brilliant. Oh, no. What does Ron want?" They both watched as Ron came into the kitchen, saw Fred sitting there, and sat down next to him at the table. If Ron was there when the professor came, it could mess up the whole thing. Ron looked around the kitchen a little as if looking for someone.   
  
"Where's Cassie?"   
  
"He thinks Fred's you!" George held up his hand to her mouth.   
  
"Shhh. Let's see what he says. Fred will get rid of him."   
  
"Upstairs. I think the Quidditch kind of wore her out."   
  
"Oh." He fiddled a bit with the salt shaker. "I didn't know Cassie was your girlfriend." Fred guffawed loudly.   
  
"Let's face it, Ron. You didn't know Hermione was your girlfriend for two whole years."   
  
Ron grunted in reply. "Well, I mean, I knew you liked her a bit, but . . .it's more serious than that, isn't it?"  
  
"Uh, Ron . . . I should probably tell you . . . "  
  
"I don't need gory details or anything . . . but Hermione's afraid you're maybe getting a bit . . . carried away . . ." Ron's ears turned bright red.   
  
"Are you spying for Hermione now, Ron?"  
  
"No! She didn't ask me to find out! Girls talk about that stuff enough. I just . . . well, I was just sort of . . . curious."   
  
"About what exactly?"   
  
"How much she lets you kiss her."   
  
"That, Ron, is absolutely none of your business."  
  
"Well, like I said I don't want details . . . it's just that her parents are pretty strict, I guess. That's what Harry said. He likes them a lot. And you know how much Dad likes them. He'd be really mad if you were, um, pushing her further than you really should. I just hope you're not trying to go too far with Cassie, because . . . well, she's a nice girl. Really nice."   
  
"Oh, for Merlin's sake! This is another of those stupid lectures. . . " Just then, a pop announced the arrival of Professor Snape who nodded at Fred and Ron and stepped through the door into the living room. Fred, George, and Cassie all watched him go with identical expressions of disappointment. Their chance for the prank was gone. "Oh, Ron. You are such a prat!" grumbled Fred as he stood up from his chair. "You made me mess it up."   
  
"What? What'd I do?"  
  
"I'm Fred, not George. We were trying to play a joke on Snape. But I've blown it now. Or you have." George and Cassie stood up and came halfway down the stairs.   
  
"But that was certainly an interesting conversation. I'm glad I had a chance to hear it." George said, glaring down at his younger brother. "I appreciate your concern. But I can assure you that Cassie and I are just fine."   
  
"He's right, Ron. You don't need to worry. But thank you for worrying about me." Cassie smiled down at him. Ron stared up at them with a bright red face. He didn't even have time to stammer out an apology before Cassie and George headed up the stairs where he had promised to help her wrap the rest of her presents.


	62. Decisions

Don't even ask . . . it's been one of those days!! Warning: Heavy snogging scene in htis chapter. As it was in AMA, it's between the asterixes. Feel free to skip over it if you're not interested.   
  
Chapter 62  
Decisions  
  
"Well, I don't think anyone else can lecture me about dating you. Well, not unless Fleur decides to talk to me about it."  
  
"That would be interesting."   
  
"And if she does, I'll hex her." Cassie laughed.   
  
"I'm sorry everyone's been giving you such a bad time."   
  
"You're worth it." Cassie smiled up at him.   
  
"Thanks. I'll run in and get the rest of my presents. But where are we going to wrap them? We can't really use any of the bedrooms - well, we shouldn't - and there isn't anywhere else to go I can think of where we won't be bothered."   
  
"I have somewhere in mind." Cassie retrieved her presents out of her trunk and hoped he didn't mean the loo. Wrapping might be possible in there, but it wouldn't be comfortable. And besides that, the bathroom was in almost continual use all day so if he thought they wouldn't be bothered in there, he was wrong. But he didn't lead her to the bathroom. He actually took her down to the laundry room, which was at the moment fairly empty of laundry and the long tables Molly used to fold the washed and dried clothes, sheets, towels, and robes for her large family were sitting bare. "What do you think?" He conjured a couple of chairs and put the bag holding her gifts on the nearest table.   
  
"This is great! I never would have thought of it myself."   
  
"I've been wrapping Christmas presents in this house for years and this is by far my favorite place. Everyone else just uses their bedrooms, but I like to spread out and our room has always been cramped." The next half hour passed with a lot of laughter and teasing as he helped her wrap her presents. He laughed at what she got for her father. "This should be interesting sitting on his bookshelf. He'll just have to make sure that your brothers don't show it to the neighbors." It was a big thick book, heavy and solid, and actually would probably look pretty nice on his bookshelf. But it was a wizarding book on the history of the development of wizarding government and had all sorts of moving pictures of the various wizards (and more recently witches) who had been important through the centuries.   
  
"Do you think he'll like it?" George frowned slightly.   
  
"I don't know your dad at all, so I couldn't say. It looks informative, at least. And I think you can be pretty sure he doesn't already have a copy." He also liked her gift of chocolates for her mother and helped her do some really fancy wrapping on the presents for her brothers which made Cassie happy. She hoped they didn't feel too deprived as she was only giving them the large lollipops and the boxes of fireworks from George's shop.   
  
He thought her gift for Ginny was nice and Cassie was glad about that. She had worked really hard on finding a nice selection of makeup for Ginny and had managed to do a fairly decent job. Of course, George already knew about the gift certificates for Ron and Harry as they had brought them home themselves. Cassie was pretty positive those two boys would be thrilled with their gifts.   
  
She was more nervous about her presents for the adults, really, and George didn't help matters any by his teasing her about her present to his dad. "He'll be over the moon about these, but I don't know if the rest of us will thank you. I'm sure he'll shine these in our faces on numerous occasions." Cassie insisted on wrapping each of the electric torches separately so that he could have more presents to open. George had laughed but had dutifully cut all the pieces of wrapping paper that she needed. It was easier to have him cut the paper as he was used to avoiding the moving figures on it and didn't cut a single one.   
  
They were just finishing up the last package when Cassie jumped. She heard Hermione squeal right behind her and she whipped her head around suddenly to see where she was. She and George's eyes met. "I thought I just heard-" She didn't even get to finish her thought because she heard Hermione again, this time she was talking. "Where is she?"   
  
"I don't know. I don't think she's in here, though."  
  
"Oh, I bet she's up in Ginny's room. I know you can overhear conversations from in here when you're there and maybe it works in reverse." Cassie suddenly bit her tongue, remembering that the time she had overheard a conversation from in here, it was George and his mother having an argument about her. But he seemed to either not remember the entire conversation or didn't connect it with her comment because he didn't say anything or even flush. He just walked closer to the wall.   
  
"I hear her really well here. I think she's yelling at Ron."   
  
"Poor Ron. I wonder what she's mad at him for." They had instinctively started talking in whispers and as Cassie approached George and slipped her hand into his, they smiled at each other as they both shamelessly eavesdropped on the other conversation.   
  
"She's going to think I sent you to find out."   
  
"I told George - uh, Fred, that you hadn't!"  
  
"And he'll believe you, of course! Ron, I can't believe you asked that. She already thinks I'm a big snoop who won't leave the two of them alone. I'm going to have to apologize to her."   
  
"I know she likes you. Don't be so paranoid."   
  
"You don't understand, Ron!" Cassie pulled away from him, her guilt at snooping finally pricking her conscience.   
  
"Come on, George. That's none of our business."   
  
"What do you mean? They're talking about us." George tried to tug her back over to the wall.  
  
"I know, but I can't just eavesdrop on their conversation." George reluctantly followed her to the center of the room where they could hear the voices but not the words.   
  
"I don't see why not. Do you really think Ron asked that on his own initiative?"   
  
"Apparently. I doubt they're upstairs staging an argument so that we can overhear it. They don't even know we can, and that's assuming they knew we were down here." Cassie gathered up all the packages and put them in George's arms. "What should we do with these?"   
  
"I think leave them in your room. Um, there was no present for me in this bunch."   
  
"You're not getting anything from me this year. Sorry." She laughed as they stepped out of the laundry room and started up the stairs. "Silly. I wrapped yours earlier. I'm not quite that stupid." She glanced at her watch and started. "It's getting really late. Your mum is going to need help with dinner."   
  
George looked slightly put out but he helped her stow her presents in her trunk, glancing meaningfully at the other wrapped presents in there and then followed her back downstairs into the kitchen. Molly explained they were just having an easy dinner because she still had a lot to do to get ready for the dinner tomorrow. But she put both Cassie and George to work anyway and had Ginny, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and even Angelina and Fred busy in the kitchen before too long. They were all frantically getting food ready for the next day. The afternoon passed quickly enough. Hermione kept glancing at Cassie nervously and she finally decided to put her out of her misery. As they were both dicing celery for some sort of casserole, she smiled brightly at the older girl.   
  
"I want you to know, Hermione, that I've thought about what you said earlier. I appreciate your concern for me. I really do. I know that what you said makes sense and everything, but I'm going to give the two of us a chance. I don't want to risk missing a great thing because I'm afraid of what might possibly happen." Hermione looked at her steadily and smiled faintly.  
  
"I won't say anything else about it, Cassie. I like both you and George, it's just -"   
  
"Hurry up with that celery, girls! I need to get it cooking with these onions!" They both smiled at each other and dropped the subject. Cassie seriously doubted that Hermione would never say another word about the matter, but maybe at least they would have some sort of understanding between the two of them. Angelina and Cassie had a fun time getting to know each other better and found out that although they didn't have much in common they got along really well. That changed, though, toward the end of the afternoon when Molly had them rolling out pie crusts for the eight pies she still needed to make.   
  
"I'm horrible at this stuff. These pies are going to be terrible if she's counting on me." Cassie winced as Angelina's lump of dough was once again pounded into a ball before she started rolling  
it into shape.  
  
"Just, uh, treat it a little more gently. The less it's handled, the better. See?" Cassie showed her how to roll it smoothly into a circle.   
  
"How come you're so good at this?"   
  
"I had to help my mum a lot when I was younger. I like baking."   
  
"George is going to be lucky. I don't suppose that Fred and I could move in with you two? Then you could do the cooking." Cassie looked at her in confusion.   
  
"What do you mean?"   
  
"It would be terrible to separate the two of them - don't you agree? So the four of us could just live together."  
  
"I - I really-"  
  
"Please. I've seen the way you two look at each other. If he isn't thinking about marrying you, I'll eat my broom!" Cassie stared at her in complete shock.   
  
"Marrying me?!"   
  
"I know you're young and all, but wouldn't you like a family of little red-haired wizards and witches running around underfoot?"   
  
"I won't deny I've thought about it, but-."   
  
"See? Hey, George! Get over here!" George left his chore of peeling a mountain of potatoes magically (with a knife because no one else would even try the potato peeler). "I was just telling Cassie that after the two of you get married, Fred and I can move in with you, what do you think?" George smiled at Angelina and wrapped his arms around Cassie's waist, pulling her close to him and kissing the top of her head.   
  
"I think that's the best idea you've ever had, Ange. But you two would have to be married, too. Cassie doesn't condone any licentious behavior." He raised an eyebrow at Cassie, who was sure she looked like an idiot, standing with her mouth hanging open. "Isn't that right, sweetheart?" He winked and patted Cassie on her tush, heading back over to where Fred and Ron were bellowing some sort of very irreverent Christmas carol while they peeled the potatoes.   
  
"Did he just propose to me?" Cassie turned to Angelina once she could finally get her mouth to work.   
  
"Naah. He was just agreeing that I had a great idea. Why? Are you ready to say yes?" Cassie just shook her head wordlessly.   
  
Cassie mechanically rolled out the rest of the pie dough, sending Angelina off to help with dicing some other vegetables and rescuing what parts of the crusts she could still save. The noise and confusion of the kitchen passed by her rather bemused self and she did what Molly asked. She imagined she answered questions and made appropriate comments but her mind was not on anything except what George had said. Well, that and the feeling of his hand on her rear end, a place that she was sure was burned on her skin forever. It wasn't until they sat down to eat dinner that she started to emerge from the fog Angelina's conversation had put her in. George acted the same to her as ever and she realized that he probably had not even meant it but was just playing around with Angelina. For some reason, that thought did not make her feel any better. Cassie studied Fleur across the table, wondering how she had managed to get out of doing any of the work in the kitchen. She was once again dressed in a new outfit, this one a flowing skirt and blouse that seemed to float of its own accord around the girl. Bill and she were deep in discussion with Arthur and Remus but Cassie couldn't hear anything they said.   
  
Finally, she asked George what Bill was doing during the day while he was here. Cassie never saw him and she couldn't imagine he was just hiding in Charlie's room for hours at a time.   
  
"I think he, Charlie, and now Fleur are doing stuff for the Order every day. Drawing up plans, studying blueprints of buildings, etc. I think they've even got Fleur working on some new charms they're trying to develop to help during battles. She looks like a big air head, I know, but she's really smart. And powerful. She and Bill are a good match that way. You should see her fight."   
  
"Oh, really?" Cassie had to admit she was surprised.   
  
"Yeah. She was one of the Tri-wizard champions, remember? So, she had to really know some powerful magic then. And that was three years ago. She's learned a lot since then, I imagine." Cassie looked around the table at everyone and the little bubble of hope she had allowed herself to live in all afternoon popped quite suddenly and completely and she felt rather depressed. The couples were all well-matched, able to help each other in this war they were all fighting.   
  
All except for her and George. She was as useful in this fight as a newborn baby. She looked down the table at Hermione, who was debating something with Harry, and thought to herself, "Maybe you were right."   
  
After dinner, the entire family helped clean up and then they all went into the living room for what everyone called "The traditional Weasley Christmas Party Game." Cassie swore it was capitalized just like that when they said it. Amidst good-natured groans and exaggerated expressions of pain at the thought of playing the game, sides were quickly chosen and the group divided into two teams. The first team was made up of Arthur, Molly, Bill, Fleur, Ginny, Harry, Ron and Hermione. The second team comprised Remus, Tonks, Charlie, Fred, Angelina, George and Cassie.   
  
Cassie felt uncomfortable. She almost volunteered to sit out and watch so her team could have one of the others who could really do magic come over to their team and help them. However, she knew if she were to say something, it would be painfully obvious she was a Muggle who couldn't do magic. So, she listened nervously to the directions of the game and, as they were explained, began to feel a little more confident. What it boiled down to was basically the Muggle game of Pictionary except it was with wands and, instead of drawing on paper, they drew moving pictures in the air.  
  
Arthur was first up to draw and Cassie's team all huddled together to select a subject. They decided on object and picked an automobile. Arthur grinned broadly as Charlie whispered the word to him and he started into an intricate picture of a car in mid-air. The picture appeared to be a combination of beams of light and smoke. Cassie was very impressed not only with the fact a picture could be drawn in mid-air, but at Arthur's artistic abilities, and his team quickly identified his drawing.   
  
Charlie stood up to draw for Cassie's team, muttering that he was not a very good artist. Unfortunately, he was not just exhibiting false modesty. The other team had selected an action and time had run out before the team could decipher Charlie's attempts at drawing. Everyone had a good chuckle as it was announced that the action was Remus turning into a werewolf. Cassie looked nervously at Remus wondering if he was bothered by this but he just groaned and said he should have been able to figure it out, even if no one else could. The game went back and forth for the next couple of hours, interrupted only by Molly and Ginny bringing in two large trays of coffee, hot chocolate and biscuits, which everyone enjoyed. The teams were seriously competitive and the Weasley red-head hot temper sparked quite a few arguments over the acceptability of certain clues or hints. But, it was all in good fun. Cassie couldn't remember laughing that hard in a very long time. They had obviously played this game a lot because they were all pretty good at it, with the obvious exception of Charlie, who didn't wind up getting one single point for their team when he was drawing. He was pretty good at guessing, though, which went a long way to redeeming him.   
  
For the most part, Cassie was able to not only participate but be quite helpful. There were a few things, like hinky punks, that Cassie did not have the slightest idea what they were. There was also the potentially uncomfortable situation the first time it was logically Cassie's turn to draw. Angelina smiled at her. "Hey, Cassie, it's your turn to draw."   
  
"Oh, well, I don't think I'd be good at it."   
  
"You can't be any worse than Charlie. No offense, Charlie."  
  
"I really don't want to. I'd be too embarrassed."   
  
"You shouldn't force her to do it if she doesn't want to. She's good at guessing," Molly said and Angelina shrugged.   
  
"Sure, okay." Cassie looked innocently at Angelina who just smiled back.  
  
Eventually, the game was winding down and the score was tied. Arthur wrote a number down on a piece of paper and George and Harry guessed. George was closer so their team got to go first. Ginny was giggling as she told George what he had to draw. George groaned, but gamely started. He quickly drew a large fire-breathing dragon and then something flying around it. They identified the dragon quickly but had a difficult time with the flying object. George kept guiding the little flying thing around and around until Fred jumped up and yelled, "It's Harry with the Hungarian Horntail!" They had won the game! However, George wasn't done. He kept drawing and the dragon hit Harry's broom with fire. The little Harry squealed as the broom flew around and around with smoke trailing behind. Even Harry joined in the laughter.  
  
They were all still chuckling as they headed up to bed. Cassie gave George a quick goodnight kiss and turned into the girls' room where Ginny and Hermione were already busy changing. All three hurried over to the bathroom to brush their teeth before the inevitable line formed of people waiting to use the loo. As they settled down to sleep a little later, Cassie laid in bed for quite awhile thinking about tomorrow and her family's arrival. She thought about seeing her brothers again and her dad, and especially her mum. She was so excited to see them but nervous, too. She hoped they liked George. Of course they would. But what if they didn't? What if they thought George was too old for her? The more she thought about her parents meeting George, the more agitated she got, until she realized that sleep was never going to come unless she got her mind off this merry-go-round. Finally, she got up, slipped on her dressing gown and went downstairs to make herself a cup of hot chocolate, hoping that would help her relax.   
  
She was surprised to see some light coming from the living room and tiptoed to the door. The room was lit only by the red, green and gold candles in the Christmas tree. There, sitting on the sofa with a forlorn expression was George. As he was still fully dressed, it was obvious he had never even tried to go to bed. Cassie stepped into the living room and went over to sit by him.  
  
"Hi, sweetheart, what are you doing up?"  
  
"I could ask you the same thing, George. Why aren't you in bed, getting your beauty sleep?"   
  
George gave Cassie a half-hearted smile at her joke. "Would you believe nerves? I was thinking about your parents coming tomorrow and I just couldn't relax."   
  
Cassie didn't want to admit to him how nervous she was about tomorrow's visit because then he'd be really uptight. "My parents are pretty nice."   
  
"I'm sure they are, but what if they don't like me? What if they have a thing against wizards?"  
  
"Silly. I know they'll love you. How could they not?" Cassie leaned over and kissed George on the cheek. "They love your dad, and Remus, too. And they know they're wizards."   
  
"Yeah, well, my dad and Remus aren't dating you." Cassie laughed.  
  
"That's true. I'm not quite sure how to introduce you. What should I say?"   
  
"Just say, 'This is George, we're . . .'" His voice trailed off. "Cassie I asked you a question earlier today and you never answered it. Do you think that you could possibly maybe love me, even just a little bit?" He stared at the tree but Cassie could tell by the way he was sitting so stiffly that he was listening closely to her answer.   
  
Cassie froze. She wasn't sure yet, what her feelings were. No, that wasn't really it. She knew how she felt, she just wasn't sure she could trust them. "Oh, George. That's, that's sort of a tricky question."   
  
His eyes were bright, even in the dim light when he turned back to face her. "Not so tricky. Cassie, I . . I love you. There, I said it. I love you." Cassie wasn't sure this conversation was good for her own nerves and she decided she wanted to change the focus onto something a little more enjoyable. Cassie slipped her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek and then on his chin, and then his lips.  
  
George looked sadly at her. "I take it that means no?"   
  
"George, I -"  
  
"Just say it. Then I'll at least know the worst."   
  
"I do love you, George. I do. I love you."   
  
He looked like the entire world had just been handed to him on a platter. "You do? Really? Are you sure?" She nodded and felt complete relief that she had finally said what she had felt for so long.   
  
"I have for a long time. I've just been afraid to say it."   
  
"Well, you never need to be afraid of saying it again, right? Say it again. Say it again."   
  
Cassie laughed. "I love you, George."   
  
His hand lifted up her chin and he kissed her softly. "I'm the happiest man in the entire world tonight. I love you so much." She kissed him back and after a few minutes he pulled away and settled her further into his arms. "This is nice. A little privacy."  
  
"Yeah. We don't get much at the moment, do we?"   
  
"No." She turned her head and kissed his cheek again.   
  
He turned his head to meet hers and their mouths met hard. She pulled back a little bit and put her hand up to her mouth, where the tender bruise from his bite earlier twinged. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing, I just . . . nothing." He looked at her mouth and smiled grimly. His thumb found the spot and brushed it softly. The feeling of his finger on his lip was sending shivery feelings through her whole body and she turned her head into his hand when he brushed her lip again.   
  
"I'm sorry it still hurts."   
  
"It's okay. I didn't mind. You didn't mean to."   
  
His eyes flared in the darkness. "Yes, I did. I meant to. I meant to."   
  
There was an undercurrent in the air that Cassie was not used to. She felt like she was getting in over her head, but she didn't care. Right now, she wanted nothing more than to be here with George and she trusted him. "Oh. Well, um, okay. It doesn't hurt much." He bent down and kissed her again hard and this time she ignored the sting in her lip. She wrapped her arms up around his neck and pressed herself closer to him. His hands roamed over her back and held her tightly. He picked her up suddenly and put her on his lap, leaning back against the cushions so she was bent over him. She sat up and looked down at him, smiling.   
  
"You look comfortable."   
  
"I am." His eyes roamed over her bathrobe, and he reached for the tie. Cassie watched wide-eyed as he loosened it and then parted the edges of the robe. "You're wearing my shirt, aren't you?" She didn't even answer him, too surprised to make any movement at all. "I want to see you in it." She held her breath as he studied her. "It looks better on you than it ever did on me. That's for sure." There was a husky note in his voice as he closed her robe again and tied it tightly. His hand came up and tangled in her hair. "You are so beautiful."   
  
Something had changed between them. Cassie could feel it although she was helpless to find the words that would describe what exactly it was. Admitting their feelings toward each other had opened the floodgates to a depth of passion that both frightened and fascinated her. So, as she bent down and kissed him one more time, she didn't protest when his tongue traced the seam of her lips. She sat back up straight and looked down at him, silently asking him what he was going to do next. He shifted again so that he was sitting upright, looking directly into her eyes. His thumb traced her slightly swollen lips and she opened her mouth a little. He slipped his thumb just inside and she bit tentatively down on it. The shivery feeling from earlier returned in full force in the pit of her stomach and she gasped in air as he pushed down on her teeth, opening her mouth wider.   
  
"Just like that," he said. And Cassie didn't even have to ask what he meant, because his mouth was on hers and his tongue was sliding through her parted lips. Cassie's eyes closed automatically and she lost herself in the feeling of his kiss. This was heavenly, dark and heavy and wonderful. He tasted good, like peppermint and chocolate. If you had asked her even an hour ago what it would feel like to be kissed so deeply, she may have scrunched her nose up and said it sounded a little bit gross. Now, though, she realized that it was nothing like that. It was like opening yourself completely to being possessed by the other person, allowing them to come inside, not just into your mouth, but into your soul. His tongue met hers and she pulled back instinctively, unsure what she was expected to do in return. She shifted on his lap and George groaned, then put her back down on the couch, his eyes never leaving hers. "You taste like a dream. Can I do that again?" Her nod was so faint that she barely felt her head move, but he apparently got the message because his mouth covered hers again and this time, she knew what she was supposed to do and when his tongue slipped past her teeth and met hers, she just held onto his shirt more tightly and concentrated on breathing. It seemed that she had completely forgotten how. The smell of his cologne was seeping into her very pores and she felt drugged and warm and relaxed.   
  
Her eyes were closed again and she just wanted more and more of him, never wanted to surface from this whirlpool. It was hard to tell now where he stopped and where she started and she liked that. His mouth left hers and trailed soft kisses down her jaw and neck. She sucked in deep breaths of air, her eyes opening to stare unseeing at the darkness of the living room. His hands were still on her hips, but as he kissed her neck and behind her ear, she felt him loosen the tie again of her robe. Somewhere a little voice said that he really shouldn't do that, but the need to feel his hands on her skin was more pressing than the voice and she closed her eyes again and lost herself once again in the feeling of belonging to him. His hand was hot through the material of the shirt and she clutched fistfuls of the shirt he was wearing. The emotions swirling through her brain all boiled down to basically one thing. She wanted to feel more of him. He was touching her waist and hips, his hands stroking her shoulders and arms. She wanted to be able to touch him, too, but she didn't seem to be able to move very well. She tried to move back, wanting to free her arms so she could reach more of him; that was the first time she noticed that she was laying down. She started, her eyes opening suddenly. Yes. The couch was behind her and the ceiling was above her. George kissed her mouth again and the heavy weight of his body felt so good and solid over hers and she closed her eyes in silent agreement with what he was doing. This was perfect. Kissing him like this was absolutely perfect. He shifted slightly and deepened the kiss more by tugging down on her jaw so that her mouth was open even wider. After a few more minutes of this, he lifted his head.   
  
"I love you, Cassie. I love this. But, we really need to stop."   
  
"Stop what?" She gasped, turning her face toward his, unwilling to let him move.  
  
"This. It's really going somewhere that I don't think you want to go."   
  
"What?" The heavy drugged feeling pulsing through her veins was making it hard for her to think.  
  
"You need to go up to bed. Now. Come on, love." She felt him tie the robe one more time and as the cotton cleared from her brain the voice from the back of her mind came in louder.   
  
"Get up! Get up! What are you doing? This is totally wrong! Get up!" It still took a minute, but when the realization of what had been happening she practically jumped off the couch. She stared at George in absolute shock. "George! I . . . I . . . what were we doing?" He stood up and folded her into his arms.   
  
"I, at least, was telling you how much I love you. And I think you were doing the same with me."   
  
"But . . . we . . . but . . ."  
  
"It's all right, sweetheart. We didn't do anything wrong."   
  
"I didn't stop you."   
  
"No, you didn't. And I'm glad. It was wonderful. You don't regret it, do you?" She shook her head in confusion.   
  
"You . . . I . . ."   
  
"Go on up to bed, Cassie. I'll see you in the morning, okay?" He led her gently to the stairs. The color was high in her cheeks. She was so embarrassed that she just wanted to run into her room and hide and never show her face again. "I love you, Cassie. Tonight was . . . incredible." She climbed the stairs slowly and slipped into bed.   
  
Well, that didn't help me get to sleep, she thought. In fact, I'm more awake now than I was before. Now she had all the same emotions of worry and concern about tomorrow, coupled with embarrassment at what she had done and guilt about breaking several of her mum's rules. And her mum was coming tomorrow and would undoubtedly be able to tell just by looking at her what she and George had done. Then she would probably blame George for it and then she really would hate him and forbid them to ever see each other again. These thoughts got all muddled up in her head along with the memories of how wonderful being with George downstairs had been. She needed to talk to someone or she would just explode. She glanced over at the other two girls in the room. She needed to talk to Ginny about this. And no, it couldn't wait until morning. She felt bad waking her up, but she knew she would know what to do. She stumbled over to Ginny's bed and carefully shook her awake. Ginny mumbled sleepily and strained to focus her eyes.  
  
"Cassie. What's wrong? Please don't tell me it's time to get up. I know my mum's nervous about today, but it's still dark, for Merlin's sake."  
  
Cassie choked out a reply. "N-no. It isn't time to get up. I, I need to talk with you. I think George and I made a really big mistake tonight." Ginny sat up, her eyes wide with surprise and concern. Cassie heard Hermione stir and looked at Ginny with fear. "I don't want her to wake up. She'll never let me hear the end of it."   
  
"Hop up on the bed. I'll put a silencing charm around it." Cassie climbed up on the bed and thought it would be very handy to be a witch. Ginny looked at her with sleepy eyes but it was obvious that Cassie had her full attention. "What exactly is the problem? You two didn't . . uh, go too far, did you?"

Cassie nodded slowly, feeling the hot color creep up to her face.   
  
Ginny muttered something under her breath and then asked, "Where were you?"  
  
"In the living room on the sofa."  
  
Ginny's mouth opened and then shut, and then opened again. "You two did it on the sofa down in the living room?"   
  
Only then did Cassie realize what Ginny was asking her. "Oh, no . . It was nothing like that. It's just . . . we went further than I wanted to and on top of that, George is the one that had to stop it. So, I'm embarrassed about that, but the main thing is that I need to make a decision, and I'm not quite sure what to do or how to make it."   
  
"What are you deciding about?"  
  
"Us. I need to decide whether I really love George. I mean, really love him. Like marrying love. Before tomorrow."  
  
"Why? Did he ask you to marry him or something?" Ginny practically squeaked.   
  
"No. But . . . well, Angelina was talking about her marrying Fred and, I don't know, George seemed to kind of go along with us getting married, too. The thing is, I do love him. I mean, I really do. And he loves me, too. He told me so. But I know it isn't going to be easy, being together, and I need to decide if I'm willing to stick it out for the long haul, or if it's just infatuation. Just physical, you know. Because he is really handsome, and funny, and sweet . . And a great kisser."   
  
"Please, don't go there!" Cassie smiled in reply, but her mind was whirling a million miles a minute. "So, what exactly did you two do?"  
  
"You'll probably think it's stupid. We just French kissed." Ginny looked at her with a half grin.   
  
"I see."   
  
"But we've never done that before. I've never done that before."   
  
"Was it great?" This time Cassie genuinely smiled, remembering how good it had felt.   
  
"It was amazing. But definitely against my mum's rules. Definitely. I mean, we were laying down and everything. Which is also against the rules. Now, I have to face her tomorrow and she's going to be able to tell. And that's why I need to decide. So I can tell her-"   
  
"She's not going to be able to tell - not unless either your face or George's gives it away. He, um, didn't bite you or anything, did he?"   
  
"No. Of course not." Although Cassie really wasn't sure now that she thought about it. So much had been going on that she wasn't exactly positive what had happened and what hadn't.   
  
"Well, then. She's not going to be able to tell. And if she thinks you look flushed or something, she'll just put it down to the Christmas excitement. Too much butterbeer." They quietly sat for a few minutes and Cassie's mind started wondering if Ginny was in the same situation she was.   
  
"Are you going to marry Harry?"  
  
"What!!!"  
  
"I just meant . . . it's like you've loved him forever, and I just wondered if you had ever thought about marrying him."   
  
"Well, of course I've thought about it. I want to marry him and he wants to marry me." Ginny laced her fingers together and then studied the interlocking digits carefully. "But, we, um, are sort of waiting."   
  
"Waiting for what?"  
  
"To find out . . . well, he says he doesn't want to marry me and leave me a widow. I've told him that I don't care, even if I only had him for one day, as all mine, I would be happy." Ginny looked up and Cassie tried to wipe the horror off her face. Suddenly all her little problems seemed rather petty compared to Ginny's. "Don't feel bad. It's . . . just how it is, you know? But, I think I'll manage to talk him into it." There was a long pause. "You haven't said, but is it . . . the physical part that scares you, or what?"   
  
"No. I love that. I mean, if tonight is any indication. It's just that it makes it harder to tell when you love someone emotionally, with your whole self, or if it's just . . . you know, lust." Cassie could feel herself blush and was glad they were having this conversation in near darkness.  
  
Ginny laughed. "You sound like my mum, trying to tell me to be careful with Harry."   
  
"No, I sound like my mum, trying to tell me to be careful with . . . boys." Cassie forced a laugh. She had just been about to say Harry, too. "She hasn't had a chance to warn me about George. Although I'm pretty sure it will come up tomorrow. You see my problem."   
  
"Okay. Well, I can't decide if you love George or not. But, when I think about trying to live a life without Harry in it somehow, it's just not possible. So, can you imagine living in any way without George? Either back in the Muggle world or here with him? I mean, ignore all the difficulties and the complications and just ask yourself that."   
  
"Truthfully?"  
  
"Yeah."   
  
"No. I can't."   
  
"Well, there's your answer then."   
  
"But-"  
  
"There are no buts about it. I'm not saying it's going to be easy, mind you. And, of course, he may not feel the same way about things, although I think he does. But if I were you, I would sort of think in the back of my mind that this is the man I am going to marry and start trying to decide how you are going to make it all work."   
  
"You make it sound easy."   
  
"It won't be. I can tell you that right now. But once you've made up your mind, things at least become clear. Because they either lead you toward marriage and the type of marriage you want, or away from it. Stick with the things that take you where you want to go and leave the rest, no matter how attractive it might be at the moment."  
  
"So, you're saying that . . ."  
  
"What I'm saying is that you shouldn't let what happened tonight bother you. Realize that you have built the basic relationship very nicely and now you're ready to move on with a little bit more physical stuff. Not that you can go crazy or anything and climb up the stairs to his room right now, but . . . maybe you can just accept that it's okay to, um, you know, move past pecking each other on the cheek And you need to forgive yourself for this, uh, indiscretion."   
  
"But after I finish identifying the bad guys, I'll have to go back home. He'll forget me."   
  
"You go home. He visits. You write. London isn't that far away, and George can be there in about two seconds, you know. Harry and I are going to be separated next year, too, because I still have one more year of school. But that won't change our feelings. It'll be good for you, really. You can have one more chance to decide if you really want to be with him. Personally, I think the fear of having children just like him would be enough to scare me into celibacy permanently, but, um, you obviously don't feel that way." They both laughed.   
  
"But that's another problem . . ."  
  
"Look, Cassie. There are a million problems I can think of, and probably another million I can't. That's why I'm saying you need to decide if it's worth it. If he's worth it. If he is, then you'll find some way to solve them. Because there are always problems with two people getting married. Always. I could tell you stories that my mum told me about when she and dad got married. And Harry's parents, well . . . I don't even have time to start on that. And even Angelina and Fred, for all her casual mention of marrying him, have problems. Her parents wanted her to marry someone a little more. . . sophisticated. They don't really like him much."   
  
"That reminds me, no one told me Angelina was black before she got here."   
  
Ginny looked at her sideways. "Is that a problem?"  
  
"No, no. It's just sort of . . . surprising." Cassie bit her lip for a minute. "I mean, at home that probably would have been the first thing anyone told me about her."   
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well, I don't know. . . . I mean, it used to be really looked down on, blacks and whites or any mixing of the races . . . not so much anymore, I don't think. At least it's not acceptable to be prejudiced against that. Although there are people who still do have a problem, of course."   
  
"I get the idea this is leading somewhere."  
  
"I was going to say that it's interesting to me . . . because skin color doesn't seem to matter at all. I noticed that with Dean Thomas at Hogwarts. For Muggles, it's skin color or race that's important, but for wizards . . . it's blood. All completely blood."   
  
Ginny sat quietly for a minute, thinking hard about what Cassie had said. "It's not so different. Skin color or race is just another indication of blood, right? An outside indication of the blood inside."   
  
"That's true. I hadn't really thought of it that way before."  
  
"And in a way . . ." Ginny scowled slightly, "I think our way is worse. Our prejudices are worse."   
"What makes you say that?"  
  
Ginny sighed. "Well, a black person is black or an Asian person is Asian. You look at them, and you know. They never have to mention it to you or tell you or anything."   
  
"Yeah . . . "  
  
"But we force people to reveal their own blood, their own reason why they should be disliked, by remembering and describing their genealogy back sometimes several generations. So . . ." she scowled again, "we are forced to remember our own shame, so to speak, and remind everyone else about it constantly. Because from the outside, we all look the same."   
  
Cassie stared at Ginny for a long time, remembering the conversations she had had about bloodlines at Hogwarts. "You're right, Ginny. You're absolutely right." Cassie felt a lot better now and when she climbed into bed a few minutes later, she fell asleep quickly.


	63. Meeting the Spencers

Chapter 63  
Meeting the Spencers  
  
Molly woke all three girls up the next morning very early. "I need help with breakfast, girls, but we also are going to have a bit of a planning session for the day right afterwards." Ginny groaned and buried her face in her pillow, obviously trying to ignore her mother's voice.   
  
"A planning meeting - what do we need a planning meeting for?"   
  
Hermione popped out of bed, looking refreshed and cheerful and Cassie could feel her scowl on the two of them, who were both trying to bury themselves deep under the covers. "I don't know but it's probably important. Maybe she just wants to make sure all the work gets done. What's the problem, you two?"   
  
"Nothing." Cassie groaned as she sat up and put her feet down on the cold floor. Of course, she knew what the problem was. Neither she nor Ginny had gotten to sleep until well past 2 and it was now 6. Four hours just wasn't enough sleep, but it was going to have to do today. She just hoped she didn't have bags under her eyes the whole day. Maybe there was some magical trick to getting rid of them. Well, plus she had some concealer somewhere in her makeup bag. She would just have to dig it out and make liberal use of it under her makeup. Despite her exhaustion, somewhere in her stomach, a flare of excitement curled up and she couldn't help the grin that spread over her face. Her parents were coming today. She just had a feeling that today was going to be important in a lot of different ways.   
  
The three girls trooped a few minutes later to the bathroom, very unsurprised that there was already someone waiting in line. It was Tonks and she grinned at the three of them, although her eyes were droopy. A few seconds after they got in line, Harry and Ron joined them. Hermione and Ginny kissed their cheeks nicely, but didn't give up their places in line. Charlie came up a minute or so later. There was no sign of either of the twins and Cassie was unsure whether to be happy or sad about that because she knew she wasn't looking her best at the moment. After another minute passed, Ron groaned. "Who's in there, for hell's sake? There are some impatient people out here."   
  
"I don't know," Tonks admitted. I've been here for about ten minutes and whoever it is was in there already."  
  
"Are you sure anyone's in there at all?"   
  
"Well, I've heard water running and things. Let's see . . ." she looked over the line. It could be either twin, or maybe both of them, Bill, Remus, or . . . I guess that's it."   
  
"It can't be Bill. He's still downstairs." Charlie leaned back against the wall, looking unconcerned.   
  
"And I heard George and Fred talking when we passed their landing a minute ago, so it can't be them."   
  
"What about Angelina?"   
  
"Maybe. That would make sense."   
  
"It's obviously a girl!" Ron groaned. "I don't want to offend anyone, but I have got to -" He stalked up to the door and pounded hard on it. "Get out of there. Some of us are getting desperate out here." At that moment, Angelina poked her head out of Bill's door.   
  
"Is she still in there?"   
  
"Is it Fleur?" Tonks looked incredulous. "She left the room a half hour ago!"  
  
"I know. But you didn't see the huge bag of . . . junk she hauled in there. I did and I think she had to levitate it or she couldn't have managed the weight."   
  
"Oi! Fleur! Get out!"  
  
"No. I am beezy. You vill just wait a few more moments, pleeze." Ron looked frustrated and groaned as another moment passed with no sign of her imminent departure. He pounded on the door again.   
  
"I'm going to do something in a few minutes that I haven't done since I was a small child." Everyone laughed, mostly because they could all empathize with his anxiety.   
  
"That's not true, Ron. Just last summer-"  
  
"Oh, shut it, Ginny." His ears turned bright red and he sulked his way back behind Harry in line.   
  
"What's her idea of a minute?" Hermione asked about three minutes later. Cassie was starting to feel a bit of anxiety herself. "She should know that proper etiquette demands that everyone be allowed to get into the bathroom for certain . . . necessities . . . before you come back for the hair and makeup stuff. That's the rule!"   
  
Harry smirked and Cassie caught the look on his face as he said, "And no one should disobey the rules, should they, Hermione?" She just scowled in response, but Ginny stuck her tongue out at her boyfriend and Cassie's sympathies definitely lay with Hermione as well. Tonks groaned but it was Charlie who finally snapped.   
  
"I'm getting Bill. He can get her out of there. Even if he has to stun her to do it. But I'll let him take the brunt of her temper." He climbed downstairs and not more than 30 seconds later, Bill apparated into the hall by the bathroom door.   
  
"Sorry, everyone. She can be a bit temperamental. Fleur! You've got to get out, right now!"  
  
"Beel, I cannot. I am not yet ready for-"  
  
"You're ready enough. Come on out or I'll come in and get you."   
  
"You wouldn't dare. The door is locked."   
  
"Yeah. Well, I don't think that'll do much. Get out." The door opened but much to Cassie's chagrin and Ron's obvious pain, "Beel" went in and there was no sign of Fleur.   
  
"Great! Now they're both in there!" A moment later, though, Bill led a very disgruntled-looking Fleur out of the bathroom. She was, indeed, carrying a very large bag.   
  
"Thees is just impossible, Beel. I cannot be expected to . . ."  
  
"I understand, love. You can use my mum and dad's loo. And you can stay in there as long as you need to."   
  
"What!" Hermione turned brick red. "We're all suffering here. Why should she get to-" But no one answered her and she didn't even finish her question as Ron apologized to Tonks and darted into the bathroom.  
  
"Sorry. I'm desperate!"   
  
"Oh, for Heaven's sake!" Hermione scowled. When Ron emerged about two minutes later, he looked significantly less agitated, although he was bright red as he passed everyone in line. Tonks pulled her wand out.   
  
"No one better even think about it." Everyone laughed, including her. The young Auror stepped into the bathroom and the line moved in an orderly way for the next few minutes.   
  
It was about a half-hour later before Cassie managed to make it downstairs. She had slipped into a comfortable pair of jeans, although she had foregone the jumper and was just wearing a plain T-shirt. The kitchen would be hot this morning. She had seen Molly's list of items to cook and it was formidable. She would change later, before her parents and brothers arrived. Breakfast was a simple affair by the usual standards and Cassie just munched on some toast as she stood at the stove browning bread crumbs for the stuffing they would be assembling later in the morning. Molly was making a beef roast, a goose, and a ham as well as innumerable side dishes, salads, and breads. The desserts were all taken care of for the most part although there was still some sort of hot bread pudding that needed to be boiled. A good portion of the preparation could be done with magic, of course, but Cassie had learned that most of the work was just plain old cooking like her own mother did at home.   
  
"All right, everyone. I think we need to have that planning meeting soon."   
  
"What's this all about, Molly?" Remus asked, looking slightly concerned which sent an answering jolt of nerves into Cassie's stomach.   
  
"It's about the plans for the day. Nothing complicated." But her smile, although it was supposed to be reassuring, looked stretched thin and now that Cassie was looking, she noticed that Molly had dark circles under her eyes - the ones that concealer didn't really hide. Arthur also looked rather pale and fretful, which worried Cassie a lot more than Molly's similar appearance. Arthur was the kind of man that didn't let much get to him. Something was obviously upsetting them and she gulped as everyone headed into the living room.   
  
George and she had traded shy smiles across the room this morning and even though she had tried to speak to him, they had not had a chance to say more than a hasty hello. After the intimacy of last night, it seemed strange to be separated again by a bustling crowd, but like George had said, they didn't get much privacy these days and they certainly wouldn't today. George also looked fretful which would have worried Cassie more if Ron had not had the exact same look on his face. Both were very aware that their respective girlfriends' parents were coming and that they needed to make a good impression. However, she doubted that was what this meeting was about. The Weasley boys would have to sink or swim on their own merits. This meeting was certainly about something else.   
  
Arthur was the one who stood in front of the group and exposed what obviously was a cause of great concern for them. George sat behind her and she felt his hands tighten on her shoulders as the truth of what was bothering the elder Weasleys was brought out in the open, to be met by angry silence. "I don't really think we can trust Percy. I hate to say it, but it's true. Molly and I have been talking about it now for a few days and we, well, we just . . . well, we just need to be very careful. Very careful." He cleared his throat and continued, Molly's hands gripping his to offer her silent support.   
  
"Things have changed since we made the arrangements for his arrival and . . . with the arrest warrants and all . . . things are dicey. We've even considered rescinding the invitation, but, um, we have decided we can't do that." Arthur glanced at Molly and their eyes met. He drank the strength from them and stood a little straighter as he looked at his children and friends. "Bill, Charlie, if something goes wrong, I need you to be able to obliviate him. I would like to think I would have the strength to do it, but I don't know that I could. We could just . . . erase the whole day. Make him think he stayed home in bed with a cold or something."   
  
"All right, Dad." Cassie relaxed against George with that last exchange. The word obliviate had sounded dreadfully final and for one brief moment, she thought they were discussing eliminating him as a problem completely. Then she remembered that they could modify memories and that this is obviously what they had in mind.   
  
"I . . . well, I'd like to think that it would be accidental, the casual mention of Remus staying here or Tonks or something like that. I don't think he would purposely betray us again. However, certain precautions have to be taken. And that is what we need to discuss. First of all, Remus, Tonks, I don't think that he should know you are staying here. It would be best if you apparated into the kitchen as though you had traveled a very long way, perhaps in heavy cloaks, and mentioned that the new Order headquarters is very drafty and located a very long way from here. Albus and Minerva will do the same. No mention of either of them still being at Hogwarts, please, anyone."  
  
Ron looked with horror at his parents. "Please tell me you haven't invited Snape."  
  
"Well, we did, actually, but before you lose control, I should tell you that Severus declined." There was a purposeful look at Fred and George. "He seemed to fear that he would be fed something that might make him ill. All my assurances did nothing to calm him."   
  
"Pity. It is Christmas after all." Fred's cryptic remark was met with stares all around but he didn't elaborate. Cassie wasn't sure if he meant that since it was Christmas he wouldn't hex Snape or poison him or it he meant that his own personal Christmas gift to himself had failed to materialize. She strongly suspected the latter, but the conversation had moved on and Cassie turned her attention back to Arthur.   
  
"And I think it goes without saying that no business of any kind should be discussed in front of him. None. Also," he looked at Cassie with something akin to pity in his eyes, "the Spencers call their daughter Pia and I would appreciate if you all remembered to do so while they are here." There was a beat of silence in the room as everybody stared with various degrees of surprise and confusion at him.   
  
"Yeah," Cassie smiled at Angelina and Fleur who were certainly looking the most confused. "My name, you see, is actually Cassiopeia and I prefer Cassie but they've always called me Pia. If you called me Cassie in front of them, they may not even recognize it was me you were talking to. " She felt a certain sense of loss when she said that. Once again, she would be pretending to be something she wasn't, someone that she wasn't. And her parents couldn't even be known by their real names. She wondered if there was ever going to be an end to this. But George's hands were warm on her arms and she tried to center herself on him. After all, at least they could still come. Things could certainly be worse.   
  
"Also, you know they are Muggles, of course. Though they've seen Cassie, er, Pia, do some magic, it will still be new to them so let's keep the chaos down to a dull roar. And the same goes for the Grangers, who always seem quite unsure of our sanity at the best of times." He looked around at the little group. "Percy, fortunately, is supposed to go to Penny's at 4, so he will be here less than four hours. Please, let's try to . . . make things look as normal as possible."   
  
"I'm surprised he deigns to be in the company of so many wanted criminals," George said and the hurt and anger in his voice registered in varying amounts in everyone else's face. "He does know, doesn't he? And are you sure he's actually coming?"   
  
"We received an owl from him two days ago. He is most certainly aware of the situation and rather stiffly said that he is going to ignore it. I like to think he's making an effort, but . . . ." Arthur's face looked suddenly much older and Cassie wondered if he was going to fall over. "I want everyone to chip in today to help Molly. She's quite nervous about the Spencers' and the Grangers' arrival."  
  
"Oh, Arthur . . . I am not!" Molly flushed and Cassie looked at her with surprise, a lot of things suddenly clicking into place. Molly had been agitated every time her parents were mentioned and she had assumed it had to do with the crowd. But she realized with a moment of blinding clarity that she was actually worried about failing to measure up to the glowing praise that Arthur always heaped on her mother's and father's heads. Too bad she was so nervous, because her mother would be so thrilled to see her that she doubted if she would notice she was being served mud pies on a 2X4 in the snow.   
  
"Yes, you are. I'm not blind, you know."   
  
"Well, I . . .I want things to be nice."   
  
"I know, love. I know." Arthur stepped over to where George and Cassie were sitting. "I need to talk to the two of you privately, please." Cassie wondered if they were going to get yelled at for the night before. She didn't know how he would have an idea of what had happened on this couch a few hours earlier, but maybe some of the pictures down here kept an eye on things and reported upstairs. She glanced over at the smiling faces in the frames and wondered which ones had done it. But they dutifully stayed behind and Cassie was grateful that George had enough sense to keep his hands quite decorously in his lap or on her shoulder as they waited for the others to drift out of the room.   
  
He jumped into the meat of the discussion with no preliminaries and it took Cassie a good 30 seconds to realize that it had nothing to do with the night before. "Dumbledore is very concerned about Percy knowing Cassie, er, Pia is a Muggle girl. He thinks that she needs to do magic again today in front of him. He thinks he'll be less likely to remember one more witch in a crowd of them. I agree. So, we need to work out a plan. Just one or two spells, really, should do the trick."   
  
"I don't like this whole idea, Dad. I really think we need to -"  
  
"No. It's out of the question. He is making an effort and all we can offer in return is suspicion and distrust. He's coming. We'll just have to deal with it."   
  
"I can easily do a spell or two. But I'll obviously need help." Fifteen minutes later the plan was in place and Cassie nervously fingered her wand. She had taken to carrying it around constantly again with Angelina and Fleur in the house and George liked to tease her by having it shoot sparks periodically just to watch her jump. "I hope no one in my family keels over in shock when they see me doing magic."   
  
"Dad's going to warn them in advance of the whole plan. I'm sorry about this whole thing, Cassie."  
  
"Pia."   
  
"Yeah, Pia. As I was saying, this was supposed to be a special day for you and now it's ruined."  
  
"It's not ruined." They were alone in the room, now and she slipped easily into his arms. "You're still here and my parents will still be here and you get to meet them."   
  
"Aaah. Now you've ruined my day." He pretended to look put out, but as their lips met softly, they were both smiling.   
  
"I do love you, you know," she said, reveling in how easily it came to her lips now.   
  
"I love you, too. What do you think our chances of putting a locking and silencing charm on that door and having another snogging session on this couch are?"   
  
"Well, I couldn't say about the charm - but I can tell you that you're out of luck about the snogging. That was a one-time deal. You can consider it your Christmas present." He looked crestfallen but she looked him straight in the face and told him the truth. "It was wonderful, George, but it was . . . not right. And I hope you'll accept that."   
  
"Do I look like that big of a prat?" George scowled at her. "I have never felt anything more right in my entire life but I still would never force you into doing anything you didn't want to do."  
  
"You don't have to force me, love. You touch me and every other thought I have flies out the window, so-"  
  
"I'll do my best, Pia, but I'm not going to promise that I'm not going to touch you. And I intend to kiss you. A lot. And if at some point, there should be a repeat of last night, I'm not going to apologize for it, either." Cassie raised her chin at this, thinking he was teasing her. But his eyes were serious and she knew he was spoiling for a fight. She was just about to protest but Ron came in.   
  
"Come on. Mum's having kittens about something Pia's supposed to do to help with dinner. And she wants you and Fred to get to work on the table and chairs. She wants to remind you that it will need to sit 24 and have plenty of room for food. Plus, she says she wants everyone to have elbow room."   
  
"Go tell this to Fred. I'm busy."   
  
"Can't. He's locked himself in your room with Angelina and I think they put a silencing spell on or something, 'cause he won't answer the door. They're probably starkers or something."   
  
"Oh, grow up, Ron. Go tell Bill to get them out of there. He can break into Egyptian pyramids. He can get into our room."   
  
"I'm not a bloody messenger service. Tell bloody Bill to get your own bloody brother out of your own bloody room!" The door slammed behind him and George started laughing.  
  
"I think he's jealous that he isn't starkers."   
  
"With Angelina?" And they both laughed for quite a few minutes before they managed to make it into the kitchen.   
  
Although Cassie was very anxious for her parents to come, the morning passed quickly. Arthur left about 10 to go to retrieve her family. Charlie left at 10:30 to go get the Grangers and it was then that Cassie ran in a panic upstairs to get herself looking presentable. George had disappeared quite a long time ago and she hoped that he remembered they were coming at 11 and that she really wanted him down there with her. She was extremely nervous now and was glad that she had only eaten toast this morning. Anything heavier and she's probably have thrown it back up. She dressed in the nicest dress she had with her but then didn't know what to do with her wand because it had no pockets. She tried tucking it in various places but was about to give up in total frustration when Hermione breezed into the room to get ready for her own parents' arrival. "You need robes if this is going to work. Sorry. Pretty dress, by the way."   
  
"But all I have are my school ones and they won't do."   
  
"I can modify them a bit. What about white?"   
  
"Um, no. I don't look good in white." The dress was a deep dark blue that she knew brought out the color of her eyes. She just hoped that Fleur wasn't wearing blue, which was obviously her favorite color. If she did, though, it would probably be a pale misty blue with silver, so she wouldn't be an exact match, no matter what.   
  
"How about a violet, with a lot of blue in it?" Despite Cassie's initial misgivings, Hermione fussed with the shade until they found one that looked nice with the dress and then she added a bit of trim and some fancy buttons and when Cassie looked at herself in the mirror when it was all done, she thought she looked really nice, very sophisticated. "You look very grown up, Pia. That's really stunning together."   
  
"Thanks. I'm so nervous, which is ridiculous."   
  
"No. I'm nervous, too. And I've been doing this for years. It makes sense, with George and all." As Cassie tucked her useless wand into the sleeve, the two girls smiled at each other for mutual support and Cassie hurried downstairs, leaving Hermione to finish up her own preparations. At five minutes to 11, Cassie was sitting anxiously in a kitchen chair. Most of the chaos had settled although there were still eight pans simmering on the stove, which had been magically enlarged as had the table to allow for the preparation and presentation of a meal to feed a group as large as this one.   
  
The Grangers arrived first, both looking tussled and slightly agitated, but Hermione swept down the stairs and into their arms and the warmth with which they greeted her did a great deal to calm Cassie's nerves. They looked none the worse for wear and hadn't even landed on their bums in the middle of the floor. She hoped that this wasn't just from years of practice and that her parents, who would be traveling by portkey for the first time today, had identical luck. She felt a pair of warm hands on her shoulders and it was the smell of his cologne that announced George's presence. A few moments later, the air shimmered in the way it did when a portkey was activated and a small group of people materialized in the middle of the kitchen, all eyes pressed tightly closed and white-knuckled hands gripping several gift boxes tightly as though this would save them if this magic didn't work. It was Matthew who opened his eyes first and squealed in delight. John was next and both her brothers attacked her with a ferocity that she did not expect.   
  
"Pia!!! We miss you! When can you come home?" Harry had come into the kitchen and smiled indulgently at the two whirling dervishes as they abandoned their sister and started to explore the kitchen of the Burrow with an embarrassing thoroughness. Cassie's parents, despite undoubted forewarnings from Arthur, still looked surprised that they were actually standing somewhere besides their own family room. Then Rebecca looked at her and suddenly all her Cassie's nerves were gone.   
  
"Mum!" and Cassie forgot about everything else except wanting to be held by her mother and as she felt those solid warm arms around her she just closed her eyes and held on tight. They were both sniffling a few moments later as her father peeled her away.   
  
"Don't I get a hug?" She didn't know how long the three of them stood there clinging to each other. It seemed like a very long time, but she supposed it hadn't really been longer than a few minutes. Her father smelled the same as always and her mother, though she felt thinner to Cassie, was dressed in something Cassie recognized and had always liked.   
  
Cassie wiped her eyes and stepped away from her parents, hoping her voice didn't betray how emotional she was to everyone in the room. The boys were gone and she hoped that Harry had them and they weren't destroying the household in some way. "Uh, let me introduce you. This is Molly Weasley and these are my parents, Rebecca and Andrew."   
  
"I'm so pleased to meet you at last. I've heard nothing but praise from Arthur. But mostly, I want you to know how much I appreciate your daughter. She's a wonderful girl." Her parents beamed and truthfully, Cassie felt like beaming, too. That made the next introduction a little easier.   
  
"And this is George Weasley." He stepped up to them and shook their hands, smiling politely although Cassie could practically feel the waves of nervousness radiating from him. It was the first time that she noticed how he was dressed as he had been standing behind her the entire time. He was in very formal dress robes, dark green in color, that made him look very handsome (in her eyes, at least). His hair was tamed rather severely but she could tell he had really made an effort to impress and she was grateful for his thoughtfulness."   
  
"Nice to meet you, George."   
  
"And I'm very pleased to meet you, as well. It's obvious where Pia gets her stunning looks," he beamed at her mum and Cassie blushed. To her shock, her mother looked pleased by the compliment and smiled at Cassie with a sort of wide-eyed girly expression that Cassie had never seen on her before. "I want you to know, Mr. Spencer, that no harm will come to Pia, ever, if I'm alive to stop it."   
  
"Well, thank you, George. That . . . means a lot to me." And they shook hands with their eyes meeting and Cassie knew that somehow a formal bargain had been struck and both sides accepted the terms. She had the momentary thought that George had somehow enchanted them, but she shoved it aside. He wouldn't do that. Not without telling her about it.   
  
"Shall we go into the living room? It'll be easier to talk there." But before they could actually adjourn to the larger room a sudden loud explosion echoed through the entire Burrow and everyone in the kitchen jumped a mile.   
  
"Oh my God! Where are Matthew and John?" Her mother looked around with complete panic in her eyes and Cassie hoped that the Death Eaters hadn't found them today of all days. There were running feet on the stairs, some heavy and some light. The boys.   
  
"They're alive, Mum!"  
  
"Cool!! That was the neatest thing I've ever seen!"   
  
Fred's panicked voice was the next thing they heard. "Let me clean you off! Please! Your mum will-"  
  
Then Harry's "Don't stupefy them now, Fred! They'll fall down the-"  
  
"Please! Uh, Mark, Joe, uh-"  
  
But then it was too late and two soot-blackened faces attached to two smoking heads of hair attached to two running boys launched themselves at their parents. "You won't believe what Fred has in his room - it blows up! On purpose! And these sparks just fly all over everything and -" "It was the coolest thing ever!" "Let's go up and do it again!" A rather sheepish-looking Fred peeked down the stairs and George shot him a death glare.   
  
"I'm sorry about that, Mr. and Mrs. Spencer. I can get you all cleaned up if you   
can-" But the boys were gone again, back up the steps and with one last frantic look at George, Fred followed them up. They heard Harry again.   
  
"It's Matthew and John!" Cassie wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. Her parents' clothes and faces were all sooty now and the look on her mum's face had gone from suitably impressed with George to panicked to shocked and now Cassie couldn't read the expression at all. Molly was standing there staring at the couple as though they had suddenly pulled out Death Eater masks and brandished wands. The absolute horror on her face at what had just happened would have been funny if Cassie didn't think it was mirrored on her own.   
  
"Uh, well, I can at least get you cleaned up!" George pulled out his wand and did a quick Scourgify spell on them, which removed every trace of soot and grime but didn't remove the expression off her mum's face. "Um, let's go into the living room. Fred will take care of them. Get them cleaned up, I mean." Cassie shot him a panicked look. She wasn't sure the thought of Fred taking care of the boys would do much to reassure her now-skittish parents.   
  
"Harry will help. The boys love Harry." Molly followed the group out, her sentences alternating between reassurances that her son wasn't crazy to threatening the same son within an inch of his life when he was at the business end of her wand. The Grangers were looking white and anxious in the living room and Cassie didn't blame them. Only two weeks ago they had been attacked in their own home by some wizards and that big explosion had to bring back a bit of the same terror. Cassie remembered well how helpless she had felt against the mere threat of a magical attack on her or her family and was sure that any Muggle aware of the existence of magic would feel the same. However, she latched onto Hermione's family's presence as a useful diversion and proceeded to introduce them. Ron was sitting there with them, looking very uncomfortable in his dress robes, trying to sink into the couch so that they wouldn't ask him any questions.   
  
After the introductions were all made, the two Muggle couples started talking, hesitantly at first and then more openly as they warmed to each other. George looked like he was about to hyperventilate and Cassie reached for his hand as they sat on the couch. "You did great."   
  
"Yeah. I shouldn't let the fact that my identical twin almost killed your brothers deter me from making a good impression, should I?" Cassie couldn't help it. She giggled and her mother shot her a speculative look before turning back to Hermione's parents to answer a question. Fortunately, the next hour passed with no more explosions although Matthew and John were like miniature hurricanes, running in and out at completely unexpected moments, leaving a trail of destruction in their wake as they tried to examine every magical thing in the house. Fred and Harry were gamely trying to keep up with them. Charlie tried to help at one point and George was stupid enough to say that he could probably handle them. "He trains dragons, you see, for a living. Two boys shouldn't be a problem." When Charlie declared defeat 15 minutes later, Cassie's parents seemed torn between happiness that someone who actually trained dragons was no longer looking after their sons and concern that the aforementioned sons might actually find something in this house that could succeed in blowing them up.   
  
There were a few bright spots, though, and Cassie tried to focus on those rather than get bogged down in the tense situation with her brothers. Her parents were really pleased to see Remus again and the genuine affection for them in his eyes did a lot to reassure Cassie on the future of the afternoon. They liked Tonks, too, and she actually did get the boys to settle down for a few minutes by letting them dictate what she should look like and doing some very amazing impressions of other members of the family, changing herself to look like Rebecca, Andrew, Remus, Hermione, Ron, etc., in turn, egged on by the two boys' enthusiastic clapping. Harry managed to sneak in to say hello and Cassie was pleased that the warmth they had always exhibited toward him did not diminish now that they knew the truth about him. They also liked Ginny and commented several times how pretty she was, much to her embarrassment. They were stunned speechless by Fleur and both Andrew and Hermione's dad went almost immediately into that trance that Cassie was quickly learning to recognize as her "Veela charm." She supposed that as Muggles, they had very little resistance to the magic so she was grateful when Fleur excused herself shortly thereafter to rest a little before dinner. They liked Angelina, too, and even asked several intelligent-sounding questions about Quidditch although she wasn't sure they understood her overly-technical replies.   
  
It was Fred that they seemed to take an almost immediate dislike to, although Cassie could see that they were trying not to let it show. She didn't know if it was because of the earlier explosion or whether all the hostility that they wanted to show to George but couldn't was being transferred instead to the boy that looked exactly like him but didn't have the protection of being the one their daughter was in love with. She suspected the latter although she thought they may have misunderstood the entire incident about stupefying them and thought that Fred was somehow going to hurt the boys. Either way, though, it didn't matter. Fred stayed only briefly and shot Cassie a small understanding smile as he excused himself again.   
  
The entire house started to get tense as the time of Percy's expected arrival drew closer and even her parents could sense it. The conversation with the Grangers, which had just become irrelevant (though they didn't know it) as they were talking about the difficulties in having a magical child in the family, came to a rather abrupt halt and everybody sort of started looking around, as though wondering what was going on. Arthur was pacing and trying not to look like he was and Molly was bustling in and out of the kitchen at such a rate that Cassie wondered if she had not decided to make another set of desserts or something to help relieve the stress.   
  
"I'd like to see your workshop, Arthur. Is this a good time?" Arthur seemed grateful for the distraction and both the Grangers and Andrew went outside with him to cross the frozen ground to the shed out back. Cassie's mum stayed in, though, and Cassie knew why. Time for a chat. Great.   
  
"Hey, uh, Mum. Would you like to see my room? Our room?"   
  
"Yes, that would be nice." She examined that magical pictures carefully, touching a few of them and smiling back at Harry. "So . . " she finally said as she sat gingerly on Cassie's bed, fingering a frayed spot on the bedspread, "you seem happy."   
  
"I am."  
  
"George is a nice boy."  
  
"Yes, he is."   
  
"He loves you."   
  
"Yes." Her mother met her eyes.  
  
"I guess the big question is whether you love him back."   
  
"Yes, I do."   
  
"Okay." Cassie wasn't sure what she expected her mum to say, exactly. She thought she might forbid them from seeing each other, rail against the possibility of Cassie's feelings being real, or insist that she be moved out of the Burrow immediately to somewhere her boyfriend wasn't, but whatever she had expected, it wasn't that one word answer.   
  
"Okay? Is that all you're going to say?" Somehow Cassie felt cheated. She wanted to have a chance to use all the arguments she had been developing over the last few weeks, wanted to defend George, wanted to insist that she was mature enough to make this decision, something.   
  
"I want to say more, but I . . . don't want to be hasty."   
  
"I've loved him for a long time."   
  
"I remember. I . . . " Her mother gave a rather sad little smile. "Are you being careful, Cassie?"   
  
"Yes. We are. I won't lie and tell you we've been perfect. But he doesn't push me, and we don't have much privacy anyway."   
  
"When you were 6 years old, you had a crush on Melvin Shumann, remember?"   
  
"I remember him! I couldn't have ever had a crush on him! He was horrid!"   
  
"Well, you did. Kept talking about how you wanted to kiss him and how you wanted to hold his hand. He never did any of those things, of course. You say he was horrid but I think that was later, after primary school. He was nice, then, when you were 6. Shy, but nice."   
  
"Is there a point to this, Mum, because you're giving me the creeps." Cassie visibly shivered. She refused to believe that she ever could have liked anyone named Melvin. That in itself was enough to disqualify him from boyfriend possibilities.   
  
"I remember one night lying in bed at that time and telling your father how much I was wanting you to hurry and grow up so you could have your first really serious romance and I could share it with you, giggle with you at night when you came home after a date, flash the porch light at the two of you if you were kissing on the porch, holding my breath, too, if he didn't call when he said he would, and all that really great stuff. I thought maybe with Harry . . . but that happened while we were away and now you're away and . . ." Cassie was surprised to see tears in her mum's eyes. "And now you've gone and fallen in love again, and I missed the whole thing."   
  
"Mum-"  
  
"No. Don't say you're sorry. Because you're not. Nor should you be. But, your father and I have come to the agreement that when you come back home to us, we don't think it should continue."   
  
"What?!" Cassie pulled the box of arguments back off her mental shelf and opened the lid. "You can't tell me who I can fall in love with!"   
  
"It's nothing against George, per se. You have to understand. It's just that-"  
  
"You love Arthur! He's a wizard."   
  
"Look he's-"  
  
"And you love Remus! Even wizards don't like him."   
  
"I-"  
  
"You don't even know him."  
  
"We-" Cassie opened her mouth again and her mother glared at her. "Let me finish a sentence, young lady." Cassie shut her mouth. "As I was saying, it's not just because he's a wizard, nor because of the age difference, nor because of what he does for a living, or anything like that."  
  
"So those are all the reasons you don't like him?"  
  
"Cassie, it's just that . . . we don't want to encourage you in this situation. You can't fit in here. All of this magic stuff is just an act for you, a game. You will come back with us and forget this ever happened. You can finish school, fall in love with a nice boy, marry him, have 15 children, and entertain them at night with make-believe stories about unicorns and flying on broomsticks." Cassie shook her head.   
  
"No. I love him."  
  
"That's fine. You loved Melvin, too. But you got over it. You got over Harry, too. And-"  
  
"No! Don't compare George and Harry. That's not fair."   
  
"I don't see why not."  
  
"It's not the same. Not at all." Cassie felt suffocated, like she wanted to run screaming from the room out into the cold sunshine and never look back again. This was so much worse than she had ever imagined, somehow. Her mother sounded so final. "Please, Mum, please. Don't . . . don't give up on him so quickly. Please, come down and get to know him. I . . . you can't help but love him. He's so wonderful. Please!" Her mother's hand found her chin and lifted it so that their gazes locked.   
  
"I will, of course. We'll be here for several more hours, and I have no intention of grabbing you and forcefully dragging you back home with us. I just want you to think about what you're doing."   
  
"And just so you know, broomsticks aren't make-believe. I've ridden them and it's the most wonderful feeling in the world." Her mum smiled in a rather vague way and Cassie had the sudden urge to run to George and beg him to take her flying right now, but of course that would not happen. Not today. By the time, they got downstairs, a tall red-headed boy was sitting in the front room that Cassie knew had to be Percy. He had Ron's build and she was glad. She had already decided she didn't like Percy and she was glad he looked nothing like George. He stood as she was introduced as Pia Spencer, a good friend of Ginny's, and her parents were introduced in turn.   
  
He talked quite a bit about his work in the Ministry of Magic although no one seemed particularly interested. He may have been more enthusiastic about her dad if he told him what he did for a living but that was forbidden and so Percy rambled on for quite a long while about how important his office was and that although he had a minor job at this point, he was bound to be promoted soon. Various brothers and Ginny drifted in, exchanged pleasantries, and drifted out again. Cassie's brothers never surfaced during that long period of dry recitation and Cassie almost wished they would run in just to stir things up a little bit. She liked the idea of Percy with sooty hand prints on his immaculate charcoal-gray pants and crisp white shirt. His formal robes were black (quelle surprise!) and looked quite expensively simple. Cassie didn't like them.   
  
Percy studied her for quite a long stretch at one point, and George rescued her by taking her hand and saying that she needed to help Molly as she had promised. "Why was he looking at me like that?"   
  
"I don't know. Merlin, he's a prat."   
  
"He's just trying to compensate for his feeling of being the outsider," Hermione chastised. Ginny had told her that Hermione had always liked Percy, well, before the family break-up, but in Cassie's opinion this did nothing to recommend her taste in friends.   
  
"I don't care what he's compensating for. If he looks at you again like that, I'm going to hex him blind."   
  
"George!"   
  
"It's true."   
  
Professors Dumbledore and McGonagall arrived a few minutes later, leaving the kitchen quickly to go visit in the living room. When Remus and Tonks apparated in a few minutes after that, clothed in thick winter robes and heavy boots, Cassie was confused until she remembered about the fooling-Percy campaign. They entered the living room a moment later, stomping their feet and complaining mightily about how cold the new Order headquarters were. Tonks launched into a blistering tirade about how someone should think of these things when they were stuck in North Umbria before Remus coughed in a meaningful way and she didn't say anything else.   
  
When dinner was finally on the table and the 24 chairs were starting to fill with both Muggles and wizards, Cassie knew it was showtime for her. Molly looked around in frustration. "Where are Ginny and Harry?"   
  
"Upstairs snogging. I just passed them on the steps."   
  
"Oh, Merlin's beard! Ginny said she'd help with carving the goose. Go get her, would you, Fred? And you can hex Harry with a nice anti-snogging spell while you're at it." Everyone laughed and Fred started up the steps. Cassie was busy getting the final dishes on the table when Ginny came down a minute later. Fred was teasing Harry about the anti-snogging spell upstairs while Ginny started carving the goose. "Pia, could you get the wheat rolls out of the oven, please. I've got them in there warming."   
  
"Certainly, Molly." She whipped out her wand and opened the oven door, doused the flame, and levitated the wicker basket over to the table where it landed gracefully on the linen tablecloth next to her mother's elbow. She then pointed her wand at the oven door again which closed with a satisfying bang. Fred came down the steps.   
  
"Harry's washing up to remove the lipstick off his face. He'll be down soon." Ginny turned suitably pink and Cassie sighed in relief. The invisibility cloak had proved its worth once again when it came to her doing "magic." And she was happy that her mother hadn't shrieked in shock. Even her brothers had not done more than ooh quietly when they saw her whip out her wand, "just like Harry's."   
  
Percy studied her in long intervals through dinner and she shifted uncomfortably. Tonks predictably spilled the pumpkin juice, and Cassie was the one to do the Scourgify spell on the rapidly spreading stain turning the crisp white linen a soggy orange. George was able to slide his wand home into his sleeve with no one the wiser and Cassie also did a "warming spell" on her gravy, although she had to pretend hard on that one, because it was still quite cold and she had to pretend she had burned her mouth. "I understand you are being tutored at home?" Percy asked at one point soon thereafter.   
  
"Yes. My parents didn't want me to go so far away for school."   
  
"I understand. You seem very well-trained."   
  
"Thank you. I work hard at it."   
  
"You know, your description - it's almost identical to that of a girl I'm looking for."   
  
"Oh, really?" Cassie tried to look only mildly interested.   
  
"Yes - a young blonde girl with blue eyes, small frame, etc."   
  
"How do you know I'm not her?" She asked pleasantly and ignored the sudden intake of breath by most of the people at the table.   
  
"She's a Muggle. You're not. Otherwise, I'd be quite sure . . . but, no."   
  
"Why are you looking for her?"   
  
"Our Acting Minister of Magic, Nicholas Nightscall, has asked those of us he trusts to keep an eye out for her. Apparently, she's some sort of criminal."   
  
"Ah. Like your parents and siblings?"   
  
"No." Percy scowled. "Everyone knows that these arrest warrants are nothing - the Ministry is only nominally involved in those. In fact," and his chest swelled visibly with pride, "Nightscall specifically endorsed my coming here. He said to make sure to convey his best wishes and that he intends to continue to pursue this matter until all of your names are cleared."   
  
"Send him our gratitude." Arthur's voice was less sincere than Cassie had ever heard it.   
  
"So, tell me more about this girl." George's hand on her knee was gripping so tight that she knew she'd have a bruise the next day. She saw a quick movement from Charlie and realized that he had pulled his wand out.   
  
"Well, the matter is top secret, of course. Only those of us with a particularly close relationship with the Acting Minister know anything about her. Apparently, she has stolen some very valuable items from a shop."  
  
"A wizarding shop?"  
  
"Of course. Otherwise, the Ministry would not be involved in looking for her. Nightscall himself is personally involved. He says he wants her found. Like I said, you are really remarkably like his description."   
  
"Why would a Muggle be in a wizarding shop? She must be a witch." She didn't think it was possible for George's hand to be any tighter on her leg, but it was. Her foot was going to sleep quickly but she smiled pleasantly and buttered another roll.   
  
"No. The Acting Minister told me that he personally did Expelliarmus on her and she didn't have a wand. She's definitely a Muggle." That time, even Percy couldn't fail to notice the harsh indrawn breath of almost every single person around the table and in a way that reminded Cassie forcefully of Ron, he looked around, obviously confused. "What? Did I say something wrong?"


	64. Christmas Eve

Chapter 64  
Christmas Eve  
  
Bill jumped up so quickly that his chair tipped over, landing with a loud crash against the wall. He swore rather loudly and Fleur stood up saying something loud in French. Both of them had orange pumpkin juice down their fronts. Ron put his hands up in apology and the table was suddenly full of people talking, some yelling at Bill, some telling them to stop yelling, some apologizing to the company for the mess, some telling Ron he needed to learn how to eat without spilling like Tonks always did, Remus saying that everyone needed to calm down because a simple cleaning charm should take care of everything. It took about 15 minutes for calm to be restored around the table. Cleaning charms took care of the pumpkin juice on the clothes, table, and floor. Arthur repaired the chair which had actually cracked where it had hit and Molly reassured Bill that the dent on the wall and the paint would be easily repaired but she would worry about it later. Fleur's robes were clean, but she still looked disgruntled as she sat back down. She said something in French to Bill again. Cassie understood enough French to understand that although her tone was grouchy, like she was mad at him for daring to spoil her robes, she actually was telling him that he had done a good job and it was quick thinking. Bill understood what she was doing and answered her. "First of all, speak English, Fleur. It's rude when no one else understands you. Second of all, your robes are as good as new so stop fussing. Third of all, it was hardly my fault. The juice hit you before it hit me, so don't blame me for splashing on you." Cassie glanced at her mum and dad, who were both sitting wide-eyed as the spells were flying around the table. The boys were not as quiet, oohing and aahing with each wave of the wands and exclaiming with amazement as the pumpkin juice was cleaned off the table. Cassie was a little nervous that someone would think it was odd that they acted like they had never seen magic before, but no one commented, so maybe they just put it down to childish enthusiasm.   
  
"Come on, everyone, go ahead and start eating again or the food won't be fit for human consumption," Molly said. "And Ron, dear, no one blames you for spilling. You can't really help it, after all." Cassie thought that Ron was being a good sport about things to take the blame for spilling, when she knew full well that Bill had spilled the juice on himself on purpose. And the ruse worked because everyone started talking about completely different subjects and the conversation about the Acting Minister and the "Muggle" girl was never revisited. As they ate dinner, though, Cassie saw that the outward appearance of nonchalance was a front. Ginny looked decidedly pale while Harry's color was high. Professor Dumbledore looked thoughtful and Professor McGonagall's movements were jerky and disconnected. George's jaw was clenched tight and he hardly said a word for the rest of dinner. Molly was almost overly bright, making up for the strained quiet from some people at the table.   
  
Cassie ate mechanically after that, not really tasting anything she put in her mouth. She couldn't get the idea of Nicholas Nightscall being in that meeting out of her head. He had told Arthur repeatedly that he didn't know anything about the arrest warrants, but that had obviously been a lie. And the fact that Percy had been encouraged to come to his parents' home for Christmas made a lot more sense. He was probably hoping to get some more information about the Weasleys by pumping Percy for it afterward. She thought of Saffron and dreaded the inevitable time when her father would be arrested. No wonder Ginny looked upset. She had known Saffron for only a little more than a week and their relationship had been rather strained. But Ginny had known her and been her friend for more than five years and it must be dreadful for her to know what Saffron would have to go through soon. And she also had to consider the possibility that she would have to go back to school in a few days and room with her again, unless Cassie could get this solved before then. Well, and even then it was likely Saffron would be there. Cassie could only imagine that the tension between the two girls would be thick in almost any circumstances. She wondered if Rhiannon and Elspeth would take Ginny's side or Saffron's in the war of nerves. Ginny was certainly on the right side of the issue, but that didn't necessarily mean that the other two girls would agree with her. Elspeth, most likely, but it was hard to predict Rhiannon.   
  
After everyone had eaten their fill, the table was still loaded with food. Molly accepted the compliments on the dinner with beaming grace and everyone stood up to go back into the living room. Cassie and Ginny volunteered to stay behind and help clean up after dinner. "No, dear. I really appreciate the offer, but Ginny and I will do it very quickly. Your parents are only here for a short while. Go and visit."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Of course." Professor Dumbledore stepped back into the kitchen before Cassie actually left.   
  
"Molly! Thank you so much for a wonderful Christmas dinner. Everything was marvelous." His words, however, belied the look on his face. He laid his hand on Cassie's shoulder and spoke in a low voice. "Are you all right, Miss Spencer?" Cassie nodded briefly. "Minerva has volunteered to go back to Hogwarts and retrieve some pictures for me. Would you mind looking at a few tonight?"   
  
"No. If it would help."   
  
"Well, I can't promise anything but it's worth a try." He spoke loudly again to Molly about something and Cassie took the opportunity to slip into the living room. Everyone was there, the incident at dinner either forgotten or ignored because they all looked fairly relaxed. Ron's expression was slightly pained but he was sitting right next to Mr. Granger and Cassie could understand his nervousness. George was standing by Fred and both her brothers were hanging off their hands and robes.   
  
"Let's go up and play! Come on!" Cassie stepped up to them.   
  
"Could you two give it a rest? I'm going to stun you if you don't quiet down!" George smiled at her and pried a hand out of Matthew's so that he could put an arm around her.   
  
"They're just fine, really. Remind me quite a bit of us as youngsters." Fred grinned.   
  
"They do, don't they? If you two get married, remind me never to babysit your kids - between your two sets of genes, they'll be hellions!" Angelina barked a laugh out in response.   
  
"Look who's talking. Come on, Fred! Everyone knows you're the worse troublemaker of the two of you!"   
  
"Hey! I resent that! Come on, boys! Let's go show your aunt Angelina a few new tricks! And I've got some chocolates you're going to love." All four of them headed into the kitchen and it was only after she had heard footsteps on the stairs that the import of that last statement sunk in to Cassie's rather befuddled brain.   
  
"George! They're going to-"   
  
"Pia, George." Cassie's father stood up from the couch and walked over to them. "Come sit down. We would love to visit with you." George blanched but smiled politely and Cassie was inwardly amused. He looked even more worried than Ron did.   
  
"Sure, Dad. Are you two having a good time?"  
  
"Yes, it's lovely. It was a wonderful dinner, too." Rebecca sighed. "The best part, of course, is that I didn't have to cook or clean up. I do feel bad leaving Molly in there all alone, though."   
  
"Ginny's with her. They can clean up pretty fast."   
  
Professor Dumbledore appeared behind George and smiled kindly down at Cassie's parents. "Mr. and Mrs. Spencer. So good to have you here this evening. It has been a great pleasure getting to meet you."   
  
"Thank you, Professor." Her parents looked rather bemused and Cassie thought that must be everyone's first impression of him. He was tall and imposing looking, his long silver beard and hair making him look much different than one might expect a headmaster to look. His wizard robes were decorated with moons and stars. But his eyes twinkled with such friendliness that it was hard to be frightened, even if you were aware of the fact that he could quite literally kill you in a split second if he got it in his mind to do so. Now that Cassie thought about it, she wondered why he dressed the way he did. The other professors at Hogwarts wore plain black robes and she actually had never even seen dress robes that had patterns on them. And every other professor she had at school was cleanshaven except for Professor Flitwick. Well, and Hagrid. She didn't have a chance to pursue her train of thought for very long, though, because her parents were speaking with the Headmaster, who had "drawn up a chair" and sat down in their little circle.   
  
"Your daughter is quite amazing. I'm not sure that you can really appreciate how much she has been through this last three weeks."   
  
"We know how amazing she is. We miss her a great deal." Professor Dumbledore spoke with them for quite a long while, purposely keeping the discussion on a casual level. Cassie really didn't listen to them; instead she turned to George and mouthed at him, "I'm sorry about this." He smiled back and they both sat there nervously as the professor finished his visit with them. When he stood and vanished the chair with a quick wand movement, George swallowed hard and plastered a smile on his face.   
  
"So, George. Tell us a bit about yourself." Andrew looked serious and Cassie hoped George didn't mind the interrogation that she was sure was coming. George opened his mouth to reply but Harry came over to say hello and George looked relieved at the interruption. "Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Spencer. Did you enjoy dinner?"   
  
"Yes, Harry. Molly's a marvelous cook. And for so many people!"  
  
"I think she's been keeping Pia, Hermione, and Ginny busy for several days." After a few more minutes of casual conversation, Harry was called over by Hermione and it was just the four of them again. They all looked at each other, Cassie flushing pink as George took her hand. Her dad looked pointedly at their entwined fingers and cleared his throat.   
  
"Actually, George, um, I'm glad that we have this chance to -"  
  
"Mum! Mum! This is the neatest thing ever!" Matthew and John came barreling out of the kitchen at top speed and everyone in the room was shocked into total silence. Cassie closed her eyes and her groan was answered by her mother's gasp. Rebecca stood up and stared at her sons. They were standing there, eyes bright with excitement, practically trembling in enthusiasm. The bright red noses on each grinning face and the downy antlers crowning each head were what caused Cassie to want to curse Fred. George's hand gripped hers tighter.  
  
"What . . . are those? They can't be real!" She put her hand tentatively out to touch the antlers on John's head. "They feel so . . . solid."   
  
"They're real, actually Mrs. Spencer . . . It's-"  
  
"Fred gave them to us! You eat this chocolate, which is really good, and then you wait just a minute and then before you even know what's happening, all of a sudden your head feels heavy and then you start seeing this red light in front of your eyes and it's your nose and you're like, wow! What's happening to me? And then you look in a mirror and you can't believe it, but it's true! I'm Rudolph!"   
  
"They're real!?" Her voice ended on a squeak and she pulled her hand back from John's head as though the antlers had suddenly gotten hot. "I- How long?" But before she could even put into words her concern, the antlers shrunk back into the boys' heads again and the noses faded to become that rather shocking pink color Cassie was getting used to. The twins would really need to work on that. She forced a smile on her face and turned to her parents.   
  
"It's a Weasley Wizard Wheeze, you see. A joke chocolate. You give them to someone who doesn't expect it and suddenly they're Rudolph. It's only temporary."  
  
"I . . . see." Rebecca seemed incapable of speaking and it was Andrew who patted their heads to reassure himself that the antlers were completely gone. "That's quite a trick."   
  
"They've got some that turn you different colors and one of their really popular ones is a Canary Creme. That turns you into a bird, of course. We wanted to try those, but Fred doesn't have any of those here. I wanted to try a Puking Pastille, too, but Angelina said no." Matthew's narrative was more easily followed than John, who still didn't believe in breathing when he was very excited about something.   
  
"Puking Pastille?" Andrew tried to look politely curious, but instead he just looked faintly ill. "What does that do?"   
  
"Never mind, Dad. I'll . . . make sure they don't try anything else like that." She looked at George. "Can you . . . do something about this, please?" George shrugged but started toward the kitchen.   
  
"It's not hurting them. Fred's just trying to keep them entertained." But before he had taken five steps, Fred and Angelina came through the doorway, a big box of chocolates held in front of them.   
  
"We've brought you all down some Rudolphos! They're great, if you haven't tried them already. They've been very popular in the store this season."   
  
The "Spencers" and the Grangers all looked a little hesitant, but they did eventually help themselves to one of the chocolates after everyone else had one. Fleur even had one although it took a stern look from Bill before she actually bit into it. Percy looked vaguely disapproving but in some sort of bid for family conformity, he had one, too. It was actually a wonderful way to spend 20 minutes, with lots of loud laughter, as people looked at each others' antlers and flashing noses. By the time everyone's antlers had disappeared again, Molly and Ginny had emerged from the kitchen. Molly looked apoplectic that Fred had given the boys some of their "special" chocolates but Fred ignored her lecture and soon her voice trailed off when she realized no one was listening. Molly shook her head and sat down on a nearby chair. Cassie leaned her head back against the couch and sighed. This was hardly the stress-free meeting she had pictured between her family and George. She had hoped that they would be impressed with his entrepreneurial spirit, pleased that he made a good income, and amazed at how handy having someone who could do magic in the family would actually be. Somehow, she got the idea that these were not the feelings they were having this afternoon.   
  
"Well," Percy announced. "Penny's expecting me fairly soon. I really must be going."   
  
"You can't go until you've opened your presents!" Molly exclaimed as she hurried over to the Christmas tree, picked up several packages and handed them to Percy. "And how about some dessert?"   
  
"I think I'll just open the presents tomorrow morning, if that's all the same to you, Mum."  
  
"I . . . I was hoping you would open them here."   
  
"If I do that, I won't have anything for tomorrow,. And my time is gone, I'm afraid, so I'll also have to pass on dessert. Thank you for a marvelous dinner, though. And it was so good to see all of you." He nodded vaguely in the direction of his mother and father and went into the kitchen. Molly looked after him with a crestfallen expression.   
  
"He could have at least opened his presents."   
  
"I need to be going, too. I think. My parents have something major planned for tonight. Sorry." Angelina stood up and Fred stood up also.   
  
"That's all right. Thank you for coming, dear. It's lovely to see you again. Would you have some dessert before you go?"   
  
Angelina shook her head. "I'm still very full from that huge dinner. I'm really sorry because those pies looked wonderful."   
  
Molly smiled at her. "At least give my best to your parents and your sister. How is she liking Hogwarts, by the way?"   
  
"She's enjoying it a lot. She's in Gryffindor, too, you know."   
  
"Yes. She plays Quidditch, right?"   
  
"Of course. She's a Chaser - and a good one, if I can say so without sounding too prejudiced."   
  
"Does she ride a broom and everything?" Matthew asked. He seemed the most distraught at the thought of losing one of his play companions.   
  
"Yes, she does. Someday, maybe Pia can take you up on hers."   
  
"Oh, yeah. Maybe." Matthew was old enough to realize this was part of the game they were playing today, so he just shrugged. "That would be neat."   
  
John didn't follow this complex of logic, though, and spoke up quickly. "Pia can't fly." Angelina smiled indulgently at the young boy.   
  
"Yes, she can. I've seen her. Don't sell your sister short."   
  
Angelina and Fred went into the kitchen and Cassie and George were once again the subject of her parents' attention while the rest of the people in the room laughed and visited. "Like I was saying, George, I'm pleased to meet you. Rebecca and I were hoping we would have a chance to visit with you a little while this afternoon."   
  
Cassie heard the quiet pop of someone apparating and assumed it was Angelina leaving. She knew that Fred was going to go visit with her family the next day, but he would be spending the night here and opening presents with them in the morning. But she heard a screech of surprise and then Professor McGonagall's voice carried through the kitchen door. "Mr. Weasley! Miss Johnson! I really -"   
  
"Sorry, Professor. Just saying goodnight!"   
  
"Well, I . . .I would take points from Gryffindor if I could! Do your parents know that . . . really!" An extremely flustered Professor McGonagall came through the door a moment later, her cheeks pink, and Cassie didn't think it was from the excitement of apparating. George gave a sort of strangled half-laugh but bit it back. Cassie closed her eyes. Yet another black mark on George's book. If Fred was doing embarrassing things in the kitchen with his girlfriend, then they would naturally assume that George would do the same with her, even though their two relationships were completely different. But if she protested this assumption, they would naturally assume she was lying or had something embarrassing to hide. So, she just kept her mouth shut.   
  
Arthur had heard what Professor McGonagall said and, taking one look at her face, stalked into the kitchen, where quite a lot of noise could be heard for the next few minutes. Cassie couldn't understand what they were yelling, but she heard heavy footsteps on the stairs and Arthur emerged from the kitchen. Her parents were staring with some surprise at him. Cassie was grateful for the diversion as once again it delayed the conversation with George, although she wished it had been for a different reason. Rebecca and Andrew focused their attention back on Cassie and the nervous wizard sitting by her side.   
  
"George, Pia, we would really like to have a chance to speak to the two of you. You know your mother and I, Pia, have been worried about you. We want-"  
  
"Excuse me, Rebecca, Andrew, I'm sorry to interrupt your time with Pia, but Minerva has brought the pictures back and I feel that the sooner we can have her look at them, the better."   
  
"Of course, Professor." Cassie stood up happily, grateful for another reprieve from her parents' version of the Inquisition but as she walked into the kitchen with Dumbledore, she realized that she was leaving George sitting there, his eyes wide as he watched her walk away from him.   
  
"I'll hurry as quickly as I can, Mum and Dad."   
  
"No rush, dear. Take your time." Cassie would have sworn her mother was practically salivating, but she hoped she was just imagining things.   
  
"Do you need any help, Pia?"   
  
"No. No. You just stay and visit with my parents. They're anxious to get to know you better."   
  
Professor Dumbledore did a remarkable job of not laughing as he laid the pictures out in front of her. "I would say, Miss Robinson, that Mr. Weasley looks a little nervous." His eyes twinkled brightly, and Cassie knew that it was not just because of the firelight reflecting off his half-moon glasses.   
  
"I think my parents are going to give him the third degree."   
  
"Yes. I cannot say I would not do the same thing if I were they."   
  
Cassie stared at the Headmaster. Her heart sunk a little bit. She had thought (for some reason that she could not immediately identify) that he approved of the two of them together. The thought that he might not approve upset her. "You . . . you don't like George?"   
  
"How I feel about Mr. Weasley is unimportant. You like him. That's the important thing."   
  
"I'd really like to know, Professor. What are you thinking?" There was a long silence as Cassie forced her eyes down to the pictures on the table. She looked at the pictures, but she didn't say anything because she really couldn't absorb any of the faces. She was so nervous about what Professor Dumbledore was thinking that every thought in her head was only about him for the moment.   
  
"I would say that it would take someone special to put up with either Fred or George Weasley. I think that you have the nerve to do it. Now look at these pictures and get back out there before he gets eaten alive." Cassie felt her heart lift. She looked over the pictures quickly.   
  
"Who are these people?"  
  
"I've been thinking, ever since Percy made his announcement, that Nightscall must be making a bid for power. Nothing else makes sense. So, these are people whom he would need to maintain power once it was actually in his grasp. The bureaucrats who could make or break any administration. They have put up with Cornelius for years, but none of them are mourning his departure."   
  
"Who's Cornelius?"  
  
"Fudge."   
  
"Ah." Cassie looked them over. "No, sorry. I don't recognize any of them. This has never worked."   
  
"That's all right. I'm not surprised. These are the sort of men who would be more comfortable being told what to do rather than helping to organize any sort of rebellion. You've identified six of the eight men you said were there. And my potion is almost ready. If the last two aren't identified within a week, we will move ahead with that plan." He sighed softly. "You can return to your parents."   
  
"Professor, what has happened to the men I've already identified? I mean, what's going to happen to Saffron's dad?"   
  
"We're not doing anything to them at the moment. We're just keeping an eye on them. We don't have the authority to arrest them. Once we are sure all of them are identified, we will try to get them together for questioning. We're hoping that when they realize they have been exposed, one of them will confess."   
  
"Oh." Cassie didn't admit it, but she didn't think this sounded like much of a plan. Get them all together and hope they confessed? It sounded a bit like a cheap plot device in an old B mystery movie. She walked out of the kitchen, feeling a bit more depressed now than she had 10 minutes before when she went in. But the sight of George made her laugh. He shot her such a look of desperate pleading that she walked quickly over to him. Her parents were looking happy, though, so Cassie took that as a good sign. As she sat down, she noticed that George looked highly agitated, and there was actually a sheen of sweat on his forehead. "Hi, Mum, Dad, George. Did you miss me?"  
  
"We've been having a nice talk. George has been telling us all about his business." Her dad smiled warmly. "I would like to see it. I like a man who takes control of his own destiny." Cassie blinked. That was the last thing she had expected him to say. "He says that they make a tidy profit. He also said that you suggested some gift certificates this year and that they turned into a big money maker." Cassie nodded, still wondering if she had walked into an alternate universe. "That was good thinking." Cassie pinched herself discreetly but decided she was definitely awake. "I was just telling your young man here that he should consider-"   
  
Bill and Fleur stood up from the couch and the room feel silent. "Mum. Fleur and I really need to be going."   
  
"Oh, all right, dear. You're coming back on Sunday?"   
  
"Yes."  
  
"I'm very nervous about your going. Are you sure you'll be all right?"  
  
"Yes. Fleur's parents have assured me that the ministry's arrest warrants will not be honored there."   
  
"You do not need to worry. My parents have strengthened ze wards. No one will even know he ees zare."   
  
"Okay. Well, I'm still not . . . well, of course. You've got to go. Could you at least open your presents before you go?" So everyone watched as Bill and Fleur opened their few gifts. Bill got one of the infamous Weasley sweaters but to her obvious surprise, so did Fleur. Molly had done a wonderful job with it and Fleur seemed impressed by the skill that had gone into it. The wool looked light and soft, and Cassie was sure that if she could touch it, it would feel like cashmere under her hand. But she didn't have a chance, because they kissed everyone goodbye and disapparated out of the kitchen quickly. Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall took advantage of the lull in the conversation and also left after wishing everyone a Happy Christmas.   
  
After such a large crowd, the group now gathered in the living room seemed almost cozily small, although as Cassie glanced around, she knew there were still a lot of people in the house. George slipped an arm around her shoulders and bent toward her ear. "That was pleasant. I can't believe you deserted me."   
  
"My dad seems to like you now."   
  
"Maybe. But I don't think your mum was too impressed with me."   
  
"Don't worry. She'll come around."   
  
"I hope-"  
  
"Rebecca, Andrew? May we join you?" Cassie's parents looked up in surprise at the Grangers, who were standing next to them, looking anxious.   
  
"Of course, yes. Please sit down."   
  
"Hermione and Ron are going in to help Molly with dessert. But we wanted to talk to you. It's so nice to speak to other parents who are dealing with the same thing we are."   
  
"The same thing?"  
  
"It's quite amazing really. Both our daughters are witches and they are both in love with Weasley boys, or should I say men? Anyway, you know what I'm saying."   
  
"I . . . well. Yes, it is quite surprising. I agree." Both couples looked at each other for a minute, her parents obviously uncomfortable about speaking first. The Grangers just beamed at them.   
  
"So, tell me when you first saw her do magic?"   
  
Cassie laughed. She had heard what happened with Muggle-borns and knew what to say. "I was 7. Mum was trying to force me to eat Brussel sprouts and I didn't want to. I looked down at my plate after I promised myself that no matter what I wouldn't eat them, and they were gone." The Grangers laughed and laughed at that. "I thought a fairy godmother had come down and taken them. But I just pretended I'd eaten them all."   
  
"Actually, I wanted to ask you . . . does it make you nervous to have a wizard as a son-in-law? What are you going to do about their children, assuming Hermione actually marries Ron. How do you introduce him to the rest of your family?" Cassie's mother was brimming with questions and George and Cassie decided to leave them to their discussion. Mr. and Mrs. Granger had looked thoughtful at her questions and Cassie decided that the four of them didn't need supervision.   
  
"Come on, George. Let's leave them alone to talk."   
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"It'll be fine. My mum and dad will feel more comfortable opening up if we aren't there. And maybe Hermione's parents will, too." They got into the kitchen just in time to help finish serving dessert and helped hand it around to the various people in the living room. After dessert, the Grangers said that they had to leave.   
  
"Thank you so much for having us. It's been wonderful." Hermione and her parents exchanged gifts before Charlie escorted them home with a portkey. As Cassie sat back down by her parents, she knew the evening was coming to an end. It was almost 8 and the boys were starting to get grouchy. Although they had been rambunctious that day, they had been well-behaved and pleasant to all of the new people. Now, however, they were starting to snipe at each other and Cassie knew it wouldn't be very long before her parents had to declare it a night and go home.   
  
"Arthur, I would really like to see your shed."   
  
"Oh, Andrew - it's dark and cold out there."   
  
"Don't forget- Arthur is a wizard. We don't have to worry about those sorts of things with him around. Come on, boys, let's go see what Arthur has in his shed!" It wound up being a bit of a testosterone-driven outing because John insisted that both Fred (who had reluctantly emerged from the upstairs room when dessert was served) and George come out with them. Ron had wanted to show Harry something and so they had both gone out as well. Remus decided he didn't want to be the only male left behind, so he too had reluctantly donned his cloak and headed out into the winter's night.   
  
"I had an interesting talk with Mrs. Granger."   
  
"Yeah, I sort of noticed, Mum. What . . . did she say?"   
  
"She's as pleased as can be about Hermione and Ron. She said that although it's been difficult to deal with Hermione's being a witch, they've adjusted. She said that it's obvious from looking how much they love each other and whether your child is magical or not, that's what you want for them."   
  
"Oh."   
  
"Of course, she thinks you're a witch and you're not. So that's a bit of a difference, there."   
  
Molly delicately cleared her throat. "I hope you don't mind, Rebecca, but I would like to speak to you a bit about George and Cassie. And now that it's just us again, I think we should call her by her real name, don't you? Anyway, I think we really do need to discuss this." Cassie groaned to herself. She knew that Molly did not approve of their relationship, so this would undoubtedly only add fuel to her mother's fire. She wanted to scream in frustration. "I have to admit that I was not in favor of this when I first learned about it. There are a lot of reasons why they don't belong together. For one thing, they're very young."   
  
"Yes - Cassie won't be 17 until April."  
  
"And Cassie's going through some trauma right now, so she may not be thinking clearly and not in a fit state to make big decisions."   
  
"That's true - plus, of course the rebound factor."   
  
"The rebound factor?" Molly looked confused and Cassie buried her face in her hands.   
  
"She dated Harry, you know, before."   
  
"Oh. Well, I . . "  
  
"I'm not on the rebound, Mum. Or Molly. Harry and I had been broken up for 2-3 months before George and I even . . . considered being more than friends. And yes, Ginny knows, Molly. We've talked about it a few times."   
  
"Okay, so there's the rebound factor. And we can't overlook the fact that she is not a witch." Molly rubbed her face with her hand as she said this.   
  
"No. We can't."   
  
"But, I have to say, that . . . George is a better person when he's with Cassie, and although I am not sure about the long-term potential for the, uh, relationship, I don't see anything wrong with their dating. And I know Arthur feels the same way."   
  
"I appreciate your honesty, Molly. I'm not sure Andrew and I are quite as ready to accept it, but we may not have any choice. After all, we really don't know when she'll be back under our roof."  
  
"I hope that won't be the only thing that allows you to accept this."  
  
"No. That didn't really come out the way it was supposed to. I . . . I'm pleased that she's found someone. She's grown up a great deal while she's been away and it might still be a while before she comes back home. So, perhaps I'm wrong to think of her as still a child."   
  
"Cassie has certainly been very mature in all the time I've known her. She's done everything she has needed to, and some things that she hasn't, just because she knows it's right. Maybe you do need to realize that she's growing up." As though some consensus had been reached, they settled back comfortably and moved on to different subjects, spending quite a bit of time talking about Harry, as well as Ginny and Ron. The men returned finally, and Cassie could tell by looking at her brothers that the time had come for them to go home.   
  
"Mum, Dad. I've got presents for you."   
  
"Oh, wonderful, sweetheart. And we brought some things as well." Cassie brought down the small stack of packages and her parents handed her the pile they had brought, although they handed one package to Molly and another to Arthur. "I hope you enjoy these."   
  
The boys were very excited about the lollipops, but were absolutely ecstatic about the Weasley Wizard Wheezes' fireworks. Rebecca looked slightly less enthusiastic about the fireworks, but she smiled nonetheless. Andrew also was pleased with the fireworks which made Cassie happy. He was even more pleased, though, with Cassie's gift of a book on Wizarding government and the entire family watched the pictures move for a minute. Rebecca smiled broadly as she unwrapped the large box of chocolates. "These aren't going to do anything to me, are they?" she asked before she bit into one.   
  
"No. Those are Honeyduke's chocolates. They're very good and they do not turn you into animals," Molly explained. "It's just my sons' idea of humor to have that happen." Rebecca bit into a piece and groaned as the sweet hit her tongue.   
  
"Oh, that's really wonderful. Thank you, dear."   
  
Cassie, in her turn, got a few clothes that she was desperate for. "Oh, thank you, Mum! I have been getting sick of the same outfits. These are all so beautiful."   
  
"You're welcome! They should all fit."   
  
Arthur opened his present first and grinned broadly as he withdrew a battery-powered remote control airplane out of its box. "Oh, this is marvelous. Thank you! I'll have to try it out tomorrow."   
  
Molly then opened the small box Rebecca handed her and looked with some wonder at the pendant inside. "It's a mother's pendant. Each of the stones is the birth stone for one of your children. And I hope you don't mind, but Cassie suggested including one for Harry and Hermione. And more can be added as you wish. Just let me know, and I'll be happy to order them."   
  
"Oh, how lovely. Thank you very much. This was so thoughtful."   
  
A few minutes later, all the goodbyes had been said and Cassie was hugging her mother tightly. "I don't know when I'll see you again, Mum. I don't want to let go."   
  
"I know, Cassie-girl. I know. We all miss you so much. But be brave, behave yourself, and we'll see you as soon as possible."   
  
"I'll try. I really will."   
  
"I know." Her dad wrapped his arms around her and Cassie even hugged her little brothers. She missed them more than she would have imagined possible.   
  
"I love you all. Have a Happy Christmas." And then, the portkey activated and they were gone. Cassie smiled faintly at George, determined that she would not cry.   
  
"Come on. You're exhausted. And I know you'll want to be well-rested for tomorrow. Why don't you girls head on up to bed?" Cassie nodded. She knew they needed to talk but she was too tired tonight to even think about it. All she wanted to do right now was curl up in bed and sleep. Cassie strongly suspected that Ginny and Hermione would be venturing downstairs again later to spend some time with Ron and Harry but she was grateful for their company, so she allowed them to escort her up to bed and help her into her nightshirt.   
  
"This is the first Christmas I've been without them." Ginny smiled.   
  
"It'll be great. After all, you'll have George to snog all day long."   
  
"Ginny!" Hermione tried to sound scandalized.   
  
"It's true. Besides, even though she's homesick now, I bet she'll be happier to be here with George tomorrow than she would have been if she had managed to get home before now." Cassie had to smile at that.   
  
"You're probably right, Ginny."   
  
"Of course I am. Now, you sleep and tomorrow we'll have a wonderful Christmas. I know I got you a great present and I can't wait to see what George bought you!" Cassie realized that Ginny was most certainly right, because the thought of being home with her parents tomorrow morning but without George, was not a happy one. So Cassie's last thought before succumbing to sleep 20 minutes later was that tomorrow was going to be the best Christmas ever.


	65. Christmas Morning

Chapter 65  
Christmas Morning

Cassie awoke that morning to an annoying banging on the bedroom door. Hermione and Ginny had heard the noise, too, and all three girls were sitting up, looking at each other in vague confusion. "Come on, girls! It's Christmas morning! We've got presents!"   
  
"Oh, honestly, Ron," Hermione muttered to herself and she stumbled over to the door and flung it open, pulling her bathrobe tight around her as she did so. Louder then, she spoke to the redhead who was about to pound on the now-open door again. "Ron, it's early."   
  
"It's not that early - the sun's up and it's about 7. I've been up for two hours. Harry made me wait."   
  
"Yes, I did," said Harry from behind Ron. "He's always like this on Christmas morning. I had to threaten him with a full-body bind if he tried to get up."  
  
"Good thinking, Harry!" Ginny called, sitting up in bed and pulling the covers up to her chin. Harry poked his head around the now snogging couple in the doorway and smiled in at her. "Happy Christmas, Ginny."   
  
"Happy Christmas, Harry." Cassie watched the two of them as they looked across the room at each other. She felt a momentary twinge of envy at their unsullied joy in each other. But that was quickly set aside when she heard two other voices in the hall.   
  
"I should have known we couldn't beat Ron down here. How old are you now, Ron? Four?" She flushed slightly as George stuck his head through the door. "Good morning, Cassie."   
  
"Happy Christmas, George." She felt suddenly shy, remembering how hungrily he had looked at her in his shirt two nights ago and undecided whether she wanted to see that look on his face again or not. It had scared her, almost.   
  
"Happy Christmas."  
  
"Come on, girls. Get up!" Ron had stopped snogging Hermione long enough to look at Ginny and Cassie with a bit of frustration. "Mum won't let us start until we're all down there."   
  
"I can't get up."  
  
"Neither can I."   
  
"Why not?"four boys asked, Fred having pushed his way into the room past the crowd in the doorway.   
  
"We're not decent. Now get out and let us get dressed." Ginny kept the covers tight around her neck and Cassie realized rather belatedly that George was staring at her with undisguised interest at the way she looked in his shirt. She was still trying to decide whether it would be more obvious to draw the covers up to her neck now or just to sit there turning bright red like a tomato for everyone to see. Fortunately, she didn't have to decide, because Hermione shooed all the boys out and shut the door before she did either.   
  
"We'll be waiting out here in the hall for you. Make it quick."   
  
The three girls looked at each other with barely veiled amusement. "Is he like this every year?"  
  
"Yes. I don't think he sleeps at all Christmas Eve. Silly prat." But Hermione's tone had a note of tenderness in it that told Cassie she didn't really mean the insult. The three of them hurriedly threw on their clothes. Cassie looked at the new clothes her parents had brought her the night before. One of the boxes had a semi-dressy outfit in it, black slacks and a bright red blouse, shot through with gold. Cassie thought it looked Christmasy. She imagined that the Weasleys took some sort of pictures of everyone opening presents and she thought that she wanted to look nice for them. Both Hermione and Ginny were slipping on jeans and T-shirts and Cassie looked worriedly at the two of them.   
  
"Am I too dressed up?"  
  
"No. You look really nice. It's just . . . well, um . . ."  
  
"What Ginny's trying to say diplomatically is that we will both undoubtedly get a Weasley jumper and Molly will want us to put it on right away. So there's no use putting on anything else fancy."  
  
"Oh." Cassie forced a grin. "Well, that makes sense. No problem, then." There was renewed pounding on the door.   
  
"Are you about done? It's going to be lunchtime before we get downstairs."   
  
"Oh, get a grip, Ron!" said Ginny but she threw the door open to his pounding. "Are Mum and Dad even up yet?" Ron flushed and George laughed heartily.   
  
"They are now! But they're not happy about it." The three girls laughed and hurried to the bathroom, where they each took a short turn brushing their teeth and otherwise getting ready for the day.   
  
Ron and Hermione headed downstairs first, Hermione shooting the other two an amused glance before she disappeared. Ginny and Harry settled against a wall, talking softly, their hands intertwined and their eyes sparkling. George, Fred, and Cassie looked at each other with raised eyebrows. George looked at Fred and then rather meaningfully at the stairs. "I get the hint. I'm going, I'm going. I can't wait till I get to snog my girlfriend. I'm tired of being the odd man out around here." But his voice was light and his smile was mischievous as he headed downstairs after his younger brother.   
  
"Cassie." There was a world of meaning in that word and Cassie allowed herself to be pulled into a warm embrace, her arms sneaking around his neck. "I . . . hope you have a nice Christmas." She smiled and kissed him gently.   
  
"I will."  
  
"But you've got to miss your family."   
  
"Not yet, but I probably will during the day. And that's okay, I'll survive. It was good to see them last night." Cassie glanced up at George as he rested his chin on the top of her head.   
  
"Your parents are very nice. Your brothers are fun. They remind me of Fred and myself somehow. Even though they're different ages rather than twins."   
  
"Maybe that's why I like you. You're like a substitute brother." George laughed and the rumble of it through his chest made Cassie grin into his shirt.  
  
"That must be it. You haven't asked me what your parents and I talked about last night."   
  
"I'm too nervous."   
  
"You're nervous! Think about me!"   
  
"It's all over for you, why should you be nervous?"  
  
"Well, your dad asked me what my plans were. I told him about the shop and everything. Your mum asked me if I had dated a lot before I met you. I told her the truth and said I had dated a few girls, but none of them seriously. Then your dad asked if I could support myself and I said that we were making enough to support ourselves, invest in the shop, and pay for Ginny's and Ron's school, their supplies, and help Mum and Dad out. He was impressed with that, but I don't think your mum was. She asked why we still lived at home, then." Cassie laughed. "I told her it had to do with the war more than wanting our mum to still take care of us, but then she got this really worried look on her face so I changed the subject. Finally, your dad asked what my intentions were with you."   
  
"He did?"   
  
"Of course. I knew that was coming. That's what he really wanted to talk about, you know. Everything else was just leading up to it."   
  
"What did you say?"   
  
George smiled and bent down, kissing her gently. "I said that despite all of the logical arguments against it, I am quite in love with you, and that as long as you don't object, I would like to keep seeing you."   
  
"I don't object."   
  
"Come on! Everyone's waiting!" Ron's voice was aggravated from the stairs.   
  
"Your mum had some rather choice words to say concerning my behavior. Apparently, she thinks I'm a bit forward with you."   
  
"Come on! Talk later!" George scowled at Ron and then took Cassie's hand.   
  
"I'll talk to you more later. What I really wanted to say was that I know today' going to be hard for you, but I'm glad you're here."   
  
"Me, too." They followed a very impatient Ron down the stairs, through the kitchen door, and into the living room, already full of people.   
  
"Finally!" said Mr. Weasley and his eyes twinkled as he saw them. Ginny and Harry had obviously not talked as long as the two of them had because they were already sitting relaxed on the couch. Remus and Tonks were in the room, although they were selecting some toast and coffee off two trays in one corner of the room. George picked up a piece of toast and offered one to Cassie.   
  
"Eat a bit of toast. That way, you can have more chocolate without getting ill."   
  
"Great. Good to know." She took the piece of toast from him and grabbed another off the tray, considering having some coffee, but deciding against it. There was cocoa available as well, but considering what George had just said, she decided to avoid any more chocolate. George sat down at the other end of the couch and Cassie snuggled right up against him, partly because there was no room to do otherwise, and partly because she wanted to. Remus and Tonks moved away from the tray, situating themselves on chairs one opposite ends of the room and Cassie watched Remus look covertly through half-staff lids at Tonks as she munched happily on her toast completely oblivious to the longing in his eyes. Cassie sighed, but turned her attention to the tree. It was beautiful: the candles lit, the ornaments twinkling, the icicles twisting and catching the candlelight. There were presents piled beneath it and Cassie's eyes automatically sought out the ones she had placed under there. She hoped that everyone liked what she had got them. She had to admit that she was quite nervous.   
  
"Well, another year has come around," Arthur started, standing and looking around at the assembled group. "I'm glad to have all of our guests here. Harry, Hermione, Cassie, Remus, and Tonks, welcome! And, Happy Christmas!"   
  
"Here! Here!" everyone said and there was smattered applause.   
  
"Can we start? Please!" Molly nodded and Cassie started in total shock. The five Weasley children descended on the tree like locusts, pulling out presents, tossing them to each other, and ripping into the wrapping like they were possessed. Cassie could tell immediately that the usual organized, slow way her own family opened their presents was not used here. This was insanity. She saw her own small pile of presents as the grasping hands approached it.   
  
"Stop!" Everyone froze. "I want to see you people open the presents from me! Hand me that pile, George." He did so. "When you're done with ripping open everything else, you can have them." The chaos was so intense that she really couldn't tell what everyone was getting, but she wound up with a pile in her own lap of gifts from everyone else in the room. She started opening carefully, choosing Hermione's present first. It was a book, which did not surprise her, and the weight and size of it made her fairly certain what it actually was. As she peeled off the wrapping, she smiled because she was right. A new copy of Hogwarts: A History was revealed under her hand. "Thanks, Hermione. This is nice."   
  
"Oh, for hell's sake, Hermione. What is it with you?" Ron had taken a short break from ripping open his own presents in order to pull his maroon jumper over his head.   
  
"She said she liked the book!" Hermione protested.   
  
"I do. It's really interesting. You should read it." Ron just scowled but then he grinned as Harry tossed him another package. Cassie picked up the next package in her own pile and it was from Ron, so she opened it and was pleased to see that he had given her a new pack of exploding Snap cards. "Thanks, Ron. I'll definitely use these. I think I'm getting pretty good at it." Ron grunted in response, his mouth full of chocolate at the moment. In quick succession, she opened some chocolates from Remus, a package of assorted jokes from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes from Fred, a rather odd-looking gadget from Tonks, which George identified as a sneakoscope and told her he would tell her about what it did later, and a container of lotion from Charlie, which he said was really good for smoothing out dry skin. He had gotten one for all the girls and given all the boys dragon claw charms they could keep in their pocket or wear as a necklace. There was also rather bulky-looking present from Molly and Arthur and Cassie was very surprised when she opened it to find a pale blue Weasley jumper.   
  
"Molly? When did you have time to make this?"   
  
"I've been working on it at nights, dear. I think it should fit. I made it the same size as Ginny's." Cassie swallowed hard past the lump in her throat which suddenly threatened to embarrass her. She got up and walked over to Molly and hugged her, and she couldn't have said, if anyone had asked, which of the two of them was more surprised. She pulled the jumper over her head and grinned as George helped pull her hair from the neck of the jumper and arrange it. She smiled up at him and kissed him on the cheek.   
  
"I'm saving yours for last." Everyone else seemed to have run out of presents by now and Cassie laughed at the expression of longing on both Ron and Harry's face as they looked at the small pile of presents she still needed to hand out. She gave them to George. "Pass these around. But I want to watch you open them." As George passed out the presents, saving the two large ones for himself, she opened the present from Harry and her eyes met his quickly. "Thank you, Harry. These are beautiful." It was a very interesting set, three statues of unicorns on a pedestal, delicately carved to resemble grass. They were enchanting. Cassie could not tell what the statues were carved from. It looked like marble, but when she touched them, they were warm and she could have sworn she felt them breathing under her hand. When one moved, pawing the carved grass with one dainty golden paw, she squeaked in surprise. "They aren't really alive . . ., are they?"   
  
Harry shook his head, smiling shyly. "Wizard statues move, too. Just like paintings and pictures."   
Ginny joined in. "They don't move much, just a little. So you won't forget them." She leaned against Harry and grinned at him. "Those are lovely, Harry. Very nice." He had given his girlfriend what looked to Cassie like a gold bracelet and Ginny was touching the gold as it curled lovingly around the skin of her wrist, apparently pleased with his gift.   
  
Ron opened his present first from Cassie and stared in amazement at the gift certificate as the broom flew around the numbers, the message flashed different colors, and the voice announced its value. "What is this thing?" he asked. Hermione explained to him quickly, while Harry opened his identical gift. "That's really not going to work, is it? I'm sure it's Fred and George's idea of a joke."   
  
"It'll work! We sold a lot of them this year. If it doesn't work, we'd be put out of business rather quickly," George assured him. Harry was more accepting and was very pleased with his gift. Hermione opened her present right after Harry, laughing as Ron grumbled about yet another book, but when Hermione saw it she read the title and looked up at Cassie with bright eyes.   
  
"This is marvelous. Thank you." Cassie smiled shyly. It was a book called, "The Welcome Strangers: Muggle-born Witches' and Wizards' Contributions to Wizarding Society." Cassie had read part of it before she had wrapped it up. It seemed like a decent treatment of a rather touchy subject.   
  
"I hope you enjoy it."  
  
"I'm sure I will. How could I not."   
  
Charlie blinked in vague surprise when he opened his empty cage that Cassie had given him. "Uh, my. This is nice."   
  
"I understand your owl cage got destroyed last month. Your mum said you needed a new cage."   
  
"It did get squished. But so did my owl. But I appreciate your thoughtfulness. I'm sure eventually I'll get another one."   
  
"How about today?" Arthur asked, grinning widely, and he whistled. A large brown owl flew into the room and landed on Arthur's outstretched arm. Charlie's jaw dropped.   
  
"I . . Mum, Dad . . . I . . . don't know what to say." He whistled softly and the owl flew to him and happily went into his cage, once Charlie bribed him with an owl treat. After everyone had offered their congratulations at the new owl, Ginny turned to Cassie.   
  
"Mine next, please. I hope you like it." Cassie picked up her gift from Ginny and opened the wrapping.   
  
"Oh! It's lovely!" It was a necklace and there was a porcelain rose suspended from it.   
  
"I hope you like it. It's charmed."  
  
"To do what?"   
  
"It's just a mild beauty charm. Not that you need it, or anything." Cassie shrugged.  
  
"Thank you. You'll have to tell me more specifically what it does later." The two girls smiled at each other and then Ginny lifted Cassie's present.   
  
"I can't wait to see what you got me." When the paper was off, she was practically beaming and she showed it excitedly to Hermione. "It's makeup. A lot of makeup."  
  
"Good quality stuff, too. That was really nice, Cassie."   
  
"I knew she needed some. I hope you get a lot of use out of it." Cassie had picked carefully from the catalogs and had been sure to get a good color selection for the various eye shadows and lipsticks. The foundation was trickier, but she had managed to get one that matched Ginny's fair skin tone. Arthur went next and practically crowed in delight at the set of electric torches and batteries that Cassie had gotten him. Cassie herself thought they were rather silly and she had picked them up almost as a joke in the village that one day, but she was glad she had. She had gotten a handbag for Molly, a magical one that expanded to the size you needed and then could shrink away (with the right spell) until it could easily be kept in a very small pocket. Molly had complained several times where Cassie had overheard her that her handbags were getting very ratty looking and that she should probably get a new one. Molly was delighted with the gift and   
  
"We want to see what George got you, dear. Your presents to us have been so lovely."  
  
Cassie looked at George, who grinned rather shyly. "I hope you like them. I'm really nervous about them." He handed her the first box and Cassie immediately recognized the big box he had been planning on showing her in his room that night Molly had interrupted them. Cassie smiled back and took the package.   
  
"You have to understand, this isn't really so much to you as it is for you."   
  
"What does that mean?" But then she'd opened the lid and looked down with frank surprise on her face.   
  
"It's a new Wheeze. We're going to call it Cassie's Surprise, if that's all right." The box contained a large glass and several beakers of different colored liquids. "I'll put it together for you right now." George quickly assembled the concoction and held it out to her. "Here."  
  
"What is it? Is it more bubble bath?" It had the same sort of bubbling consistency that the bubble bath had although it was a different color. George laughed.   
  
"It's a drink - remember when you asked if the Terrible Twins' Tonic would blow up in your stomach? Well, that's what this does. It doesn't hurt." Cassie took a swallow and smiled. It tasted really good. But once she had swallowed it, she could feel the pops. It was a pleasant sensation, rather like a feeling you had just drunk champagne.   
  
"I like this."  
  
"You'll be immortal, now. I'm sure it will be popular." George passed around the goblet to everyone that wanted to try it and all were pleased with both the initial taste and the after effects of drinking it. "Here's my next present to you."   
  
"You got me more than one?"   
  
Of course, there are two more packages sitting on your lap, aren't there?"   
  
"Let Remus and Tonks open their presents from me first." She had gotten them both some sort of invisibility crystal and they were both pleased with it. "Neither of you have one, do you?"  
  
"No. And I'm sure I'll put mine to use." Remus smiled broadly and Tonks nodded to second his statement.   
  
"Okay, come on. This one, now." George handed her the smaller of the two boxes. She opened it and caught her breath.   
  
"Oh, George. You shouldn't have." It was the constellation necklace Harry had pointed out to both she and George when they were in Hogsmeade. "It cost much too much money." He just smiled and indicated that she should turn around and he helped to put it around her neck. Then everyone wanted to see it and he took it off her again to hand it around.   
  
"I don't get it," said Tonks. "What is this?"   
  
"It's a constellation. Cassiopeia, to be specific," Cassie said. "That's actually my name, you see."   
  
"Well, that explains the whole Pia thing, then. What is it with mothers? Do they have to get the strangest name they can think of for their children? I mean, your name is Cassiopeia and mine is Nymphadora."   
  
"And don't forget Ginevra." Ginny laughed. Molly flushed.   
  
"There's nothing wrong with that name. I like it."   
  
"Fine. Except that I'm not Italian!"  
  
"Your real name is Ginevra?" Cassie tried not to giggle. It was so totally unexpected that she was amused.   
  
"Yeah. It's the Italian version of Guinevere. Which makes me wonder what my parents were trying to tell me." Ginny admired the necklace and handed it back to Cassie. "That's beautiful. You have nice taste, George." Cassie looked at it again before she handed it to George again. She couldn't believe this beautiful thing was actually hers.   
  
"Thanks, Ginevra!" George drew out her name on purpose and everyone but Ginny and Molly laughed. "Open the next one, Cassie, please."   
  
"Maybe you and Fred should open mine to you first. I'm so nervous about whether you'll like it."   
"Are you sure?" Cassie nodded and indicated the big flat box.   
  
"That one first. I'm sure you'll like it." George opened the wrapping carefully.   
  
"I can't believe it. I've seen these, but never - Fred, look!" Everyone admired the chocolate Quidditch set as it got passed around the room. George removed the lid and took out one of the small players, a broom for him, and one of the miniature balls. He cast the spell as detailed on the back of the box and a mere moment later a small red Quidditch player was zooming in and around people's heads as they watched laughing. He avoided the black bludger without much effort and George whistled in appreciation at t his skill. "Wonderful! It's too nice to eat." He summoned the player back to him and nestled him back into his box. "Thank you, Cassie."   
  
"Fred, you next, okay?" Fred opened his package with a rather bemused expression.   
  
"I can't believe you got me a book - after giving him that."   
  
"Well, she loves me, you big prat. You, she just had to get something to be polite."   
  
"Cassie loves me, too, don't you?" Cassie flushed.  
  
"Well, I do, but . . . that book will help your business, I hope." Fred read the title with a furrowed brow. Cassie swallowed with nerves.   
"What is this?"   
  
"Remember . . . I mentioned that if you ever wanted to sell some items to Muggles, you would want to use the internet?"   
  
"What's the intermet?"  
  
"Inter-net. Well, that's what that book will tell you. It's all written for wizards. It explains everything about computers and stuff." Cassie looked down at her hands. He hadn't liked it. The book, "An Internet Primer for Wizards: How to use Muggle Technology with Ease and Skill," had caught her eye when she had seen it, and when it arrived, she had read parts of it and was very pleased with its basic approach but good solid advice.   
  
"Thanks, Cassie. I'm sure that's something to consider." Hermione spoke up, then, and Cassie was grateful for her bossiness at that moment.   
  
"Cassie's right. If you want to ever expand your business to Muggles, that's definitely the way to go." Fred nodded and then opened the front cover of the book, read the introduction, and smiled up at Cassie.   
  
"I'll definitely read it. Thank you."   
  
George opened her last present to him with a smile. "It's not a book." Cassie's stomach was doing back flips. She was so nervous about what she had got him that she could hardly control herself. "It's . . . What is it?"   
  
"It's called a Day Planner."   
  
"A Day Planner?"   
  
"Yeah. Businessmen use them, you see. They help you get organized, set goals for your business, keep track of ideas, contact information. There's a calendar, and you can personalize it the way you want." Cassie tried to see if George was disappointed in any way.   
  
"Oh. Okay."   
  
"I know it's not the most exciting present, but . . . I think it will help you." Ron started laughing and Cassie felt even worse.   
  
"That reminds me of that homework planner Hermione got us a couple of Christmases ago, remember Harry?" Hermione slugged him on the arm.   
  
"I think it's a lovely gift." Cassie wasn't sure this time that she really wanted Hermione's opinion. But she smiled graciously. George thumbed through the notebook and a smile broke over his face.   
  
"This is brilliant, really brilliant. I'll definitely use it. Maybe you can help me get it organized. It's just sort of ironic, when you see what I got you." Cassie's hand was shaking, must to her embarrassment, as she opened the wrapping on the last package. She stared at the present for a long time before she dared to reach out and touch it. When she did, she bit her lip.  
  
"They're beautiful." Everyone was craning to see what was in the box, but George wouldn't say and Cassie felt incapable of saying anything. Finally, she pulled the robes out.  
  
"Oooh," everyone said. They were formal dress robes, the material soft under her fingertips.   
  
"Before you say anything about how you'll never use them, I just . . I want you to know that I plan on your being with me at all sorts of functions and I just wanted you to feel that you fit in. Just like every other witch. You'll look beautiful in them."   
  
She felt tears rise behind her eyes and tried to blink them back. "Oh, George." He opened his arms and she fell into them sniffling.   
  
"I hope this means you like them."   
  
"They're the most beautiful things I've ever seen." She pulled away from him again to look at the robes spread in her lap. The material was something she had never seen before, smooth and soft, but not silk. She couldn't even think what the material could be, her head was spinning so fast. The details were rich, the color a purple so deep that it almost looked black, the weight of the robes telling her that these were very expensive. There was embroidery on the cuffs and collar of the robes and she smiled at the tiny unicorns as they pranced across the material. Ginny and Hermione came over to her and exclaimed with wonder at the beauty of the robes.   
  
George looked up at her and in his eyes, she saw the fear he was trying to conceal. "Thank you, George. I'm just completely overwhelmed."   
  
"Well!" Molly stood up, beaming at everyone in the room. "I think every thing has been opened, right? Then I'm ready to put brunch on the table. Just give me a few minutes."   
  
Cassie and George settled back on the couch and watched as everyone looked at their gifts again. Cassie ate a chocolate from a box George had gotten from a business acquaintance and then Molly told them it was time to eat. They walked together into the kitchen, holding hands, and Cassie thought that so far, she had been right. This was one of the best Christmases she'd ever spent. And it was only 10. She could hardly wait to see what happened the rest of the day.


	66. Christmas and Kissing Lots of Kissing

A/N: Two short notes: Wizards of the Coast is a real company and I'm pretty sure they're not really wizards although I wouldn't swear to that. The "Partners" game is based on a game I own called "Imaginiff . . ." by Buffalo Games and I have adapted some of the actual questions to be more magical and made up some of my own. This is not actually a kissing game, but I think it sounds like so much fun, that the next time I play, it may suddenly turn into one. Enjoy the chapter.  
  
Chapter 66  
Christmas and Kissing - Lots of Kissing  
  
Everyone sat down to a scrumptious brunch of omelets, kippers, muffins, fruit, orange juice, pumpkin juice, coffee, and hot chocolate a few minutes later and Cassie felt guilty she hadn't come in to help. Truthfully, she had enjoyed sitting with George so much that the thought of leaving him for even just those few minutes to help Molly had never crossed her mind. Molly looked unfazed, though, and when Cassie tried to stumble through an apology, she waved her off. "It was no trouble, dear. Most of it you had already helped on before. And you looked very comfortable where you were sitting." Cassie flushed but was grateful for her understanding. The conversation quickly turned to the morning's haul of presents, with everyone discussing what they had gotten and what had surprised them the most. Cassie was still amazed at the beautiful robes George had given her and told everyone that was her big surprise present. Cassie was listening intently as Ginny described her big surprise present from Molly and Arthur and so when everyone started chuckling, it took her a minute to realize they were laughing at her. Everyone's gaze was focused above her head, so she looked up and smiled. There was mistletoe right above her. She elbowed George and he forced his face into a very surprised expression as he looked up at it as well.   
  
"Aah, I was wondering when that was going to show up. It's family tradition, you know. Mum and Dad used to have us all snogging each other as kids. It was quite disgusting." Everyone laughed.   
  
"I see. Well, you're not a kid anymore."  
  
"No. And I don't think I'd snog Fred again, fun as it was at the time." Fred groaned and threw a muffin at George.   
  
"You never snogged me - don't believe a word he says, Cassie."   
  
"I don't."   
  
"You can believe some of what I say. For example, if I tell you that we have to kiss in the next minute or so or that mistletoe will start insulting us, you can believe that." Everyone laughed and George stood up, pulling Cassie to stand next to him. He smiled at her and his hand slipped behind her neck to pull her closer. The kiss was short but very sweet and she grinned at him, lifting her face for another round. "Sorry, the mistletoe's moved on. Our turn's all over." Cassie looked up despite her knowing that she shouldn't and she noticed that it had indeed moved and was now hovering directly over Harry's head. Ginny looked at him with a question in her eyes. Harry glanced at the other occupants of the table, then shook his head in resignation and bent over and kissed Ginny very thoroughly. Cassie sat down and watched as the mistletoe then tracked over to Molly who stood expectantly, looking down the table at her husband. Arthur flushed bright red as all the Weasley children started catcalling and whistling. But he walked over to Molly and bent her into an elaborate dip as their lips met. When they stood back up, Molly fanned herself and slid back into her seat. Her cheeks were quite pink and Cassie thought she looked 10 years younger than she had when they sat down to brunch. Hermione pinched her lips in faint disapproval as the mistletoe moved over her head but Ron enthusiastically pulled her up into a very long kiss that didn't end until Mr. Weasley cleared his throat.   
  
"Oh, sorry everyone," Ron said. But he didn't look very sorry and Hermione's secretive little grin didn't make it look like she was sorry either. Charlie got a peck on the cheek from Cassie to appease the mistletoe above his head and everyone clapped except for George. Fred tried to kiss Hermione but Ron scowled so deeply at his brother that he wound up kissing his mother on the cheek and muttered something about jealous brothers. It was Remus who provided the most amusing episode with the mistletoe. He tried to peck Tonks on the cheek, but the mistletoe was not fooled and started hurling down insults, questioning his masculinity and his virility, and Cassie turned three shades of red before he finally stood up, pulled Tonks out of her chair (who at the moment when she certainly wanted to appear most graceful and feminine, kicked over her chair and tripped over one of its legs) and planted a long kiss on her partly-opened mouth. Both Tonks and Remus sat staring at the table for a long time after that and no one bothered them although Cassie knew she wasn't the only one sending them covert looks down the table.   
  
The mistletoe, apparently sensing that it had caused a sufficient amount of havoc for one meal, then floated gracefully out of the kitchen. "Where's it going?" Cassie whispered to George when everyone else's attention was drawn to Fred, who was discussing his plans for the rest of the day.  
  
"Into the living room. I'll help you find it later." Cassie flushed, smiling. She'd have never guessed that she'd be so brave about asking for kisses. But something about George made her throw all caution to the wind. She didn't care if everyone knew they were snogging. She just wanted to be with him as much as possible.   
  
After the brunch dishes were all finished, Arthur announced he was going out to fly his airplane He insisted that he could do it himself but when he actually got the box out, it was obvious that it was a bit beyond his depth. The controller needed batteries inserted in it and he seemed unsure of how to put them in. "I'm familiar with batteries and everything, Cassie, but these are not clearly labeled." He seemed embarrassed that he couldn't figure them out, but once Cassie worked with it for a few minutes, she realized that it was really poorly explained. The airplane itself also took batteries in two different parts and the controller had two places that needed them.   
  
"Don't feel bad, Arthur. You're right about the instructions being bad. I'll try to find someway to mark the plane so you remember how to load the batteries later." The entire family wanted to go out and watch him fly the plane on its maiden voyage so it took a few minutes for everyone to get their cloaks and get ready to go outside. Finally all of them were standing out in the brisk breeze.  
  
"Now how does this work exactly?" asked Molly looking askance at the bright red plane. "It doesn't look like it would stay in the air."   
  
"It works on the principle of lift and changing air pressure. That's how the big ones fly, too."   
  
"I personally would never get in one of those things. They scare me." Cassie laughed at Tonks' comment.   
  
"So, being in the air on a broom doesn't frighten you but being on an airplane would?"  
  
"Well, yeah. I know what's keeping the broom in the air."  
  
Hermione looked like she was going to say something but changed her mind and shrugged. Cassie met her eyes and they both grinned. Arthur meanwhile started up the plane and a second later, it flew into the cold winter air. He did pretty well with it after a couple of minutes, flying it around and around in big circles. Everyone clapped and cheered as it zoomed around, the noise of its engine echoing through the quiet yard. Cassie felt something brush against her leg and looked down, expecting to see a cat or something. She let out a small squeak of fear and backed up into George. "What is that ugly thing?" George looked around her to see what she was pointing at and he laughed.   
  
"It's just a gnome."  
  
"A . . . what?"  
  
"A garden gnome. We're constantly trying to get rid of them, but they always come back. Dad's too soft on 'em."   
  
"I've never seen one out here before." She was trying to escape around George and get further away from the squat, ugly little creature looking up into the sky. However, his arms were around her waist anchoring her in place and he was either oblivious to her attempts to get away from the gnome or unsympathetic to her fear.   
  
"They normally don't come out in the winter-"  
  
"Ouch!" Ron yelled loudly. "Blasted things!" Cassie glanced over to see Ron hopping on one foot as he rubbed his ankle with his hand. It started shaking its little fist at Ron and saying something, although it didn't sound like any language Cassie could understand.   
  
"Either go back in your hole, or I'm tossing you!" Ron said to the little figure, who ignored him and continued shaking his fist. "That's it! I mean it!" Finally, despite Hermione's telling him to leave the poor thing alone as it was Christmas after all, Ron picked up the gnome, spun it around once, and let go, at which time it flew with an almost artistic flair over a distant fence.   
  
George laughed again and continued, "Like I was saying, they don't usually come out in the winter. I think the noise has made them come out to see what's happening." Cassie was never exactly sure what happened because she was busy paying attention to the whole gnome situation. But why it happened was not really important. The only thing that really mattered was that somehow Arthur lost control of the plane. Which would have been bad enough had the plane just dove into the ground or something. But no. He was desperately trying to regain control as the plane buzzed low enough to be a serious threat to the heads of the crowd watching. Everybody ducked as it made one pass virtually through their space but then it turned around and came back through as though it had its own little death wish, because this time, it aimed right for Molly's head. Molly took one look at it bearing down at her and rather than duck again to let it pass by, she moved. The plane still followed and a second later Molly was jogging briskly, trying to get out of its way.   
  
That's when it really got bad. She was -- well, not exactly running, but close- and the plane was right on her heels. Everyone was laughing desperately hard except for Arthur who was really trying to raise the plane higher so that his poor wife didn't have to run for her life. She did pull out her wand and Cassie had the sudden fear that she would blast the new plane out of existence but fortunately someone, and Cassie never was sure who, magicked the wand out of her hand and sent the plane a different direction. Molly stood there, looking windblown and angry, seemingly undecided whether to run over and start cursing at Arthur or whether to just make a semi-graceful retreat into the house. Arthur managed to at least look sheepishly at her before the plane took another steep dive, this time toward the ground, and he managed to right it just in time for the plane to start chasing gnomes instead.   
  
This time, despite Molly's obvious embarrassment, even she laughed as two or three of the gnomes started running toward the edges of the garden trying to get away from the big red bird that must have looked like it could eat them for lunch. They ran for several minutes and when Cassie looked at Arthur, he didn't look like he was trying too hard to get the plane back up into the sky. But then it buzzed a bush, almost swung into a tree, and if somehow sensing that flying this low could be dangerous, the plane flew almost straight into the air and did two giant loops before landing, gracefully, upon a small patch of winter-frosted grass.   
  
Everybody clapped and laughed and walked over to Arthur to congratulate him on his new toy. And thus started the great debate of the Weasley family that Cassie thought would undoubtedly be a subject of discussion for many years to come. Had Arthur accidentally had the plane chase Molly or had he done it on purpose? Molly and several of the kids were convinced it had been his idea of a joke. Others were quite sure that he would never risk the existence of the plane by having it chase an armed witch. George and Cassie were actually on different sides of this argument and it was only Cassie deciding it wasn't worth fighting about that ended their "friendly" debate. George took this as an indication he had won and Cassie finally had to pull him aside a few minutes later (when he was crowing about how it was obvious even to Cassie that he had done it on purpose) and tell him in no uncertain terms that she didn't want to fight about it, but she was quite positive it had been a mistake. That ended his crowing, but he was still convinced it had been his dad's sense of humor coming through and all of Arthur's protestations of innocence were shoved aside as George confided to Cassie that it was something he certainly would have done if it had been his airplane.   
  
The group made its way back inside, still bantering, and Fred announced he was going to go to Angelina's now "although after you lot, it's bound to be boring." His twin reminded him that he was really going to snog his girlfriend senseless and Fred even blushed as he picked up his small pile of presents and dispparated. His departure seemed to be some sort of a signal that the morning of family time had officially ended and that everyone could do their own thing now.   
  
"I'm going to go look at my presents some more, Cassie. You want to come?"   
  
"Sure." She and George somehow ended up on the living room couch. She was curled up next to him reading Hogwarts: A History and he was looking over several of the items Fred had given him, all of which looked to Cassie like they could be dangerous. Finally he set them aside and pulled over the present she had given him.   
  
"Okay, Cassie. Help me figure this out, please. I want to use it, but I'm not really sure how." A rather inauspicious beginning, Cassie thought later, to what had turned into a really wonderful afternoon. They had gone through the DayPlanner one section at time. Sometimes he had charmed the pages to be more helpful to him. For example, there was a whole section on foreign exchange and he had added in a part on converting Galleons to Pounds that she thought was pretty clever. He also removed whole sections that he didn't need, one being an entire five pages dedicated to keeping track of your frequent flyer miles with various airlines. "If I ever do fly in one of those aeroplanes . . ." he had said, shaking his head at the thought, " . . . it won't be often enough that I'll get any bonus points." She and he had discussed his short-term and long-range plans for the shop and it pleased Cassie that he and Fred had thought these sorts of things through before they even opened the shop in the first place. By the end, he seemed genuinely pleased with the idea that this little notebook could help him with the shop and Cassie felt much better about having chosen it.  
  
George then stood up and got something from Fred's pile of presents and brought it back over to where she was sitting. She saw immediately that it was the book she had given him. "That was sort of a stupid idea, wasn't it? I just . . . I don't know. I thought it would really be something you two should consider."   
  
"It wasn't stupid. It just may take us a while to get used to the idea. I'm not really sure the Muggle world is ready for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Even the Wizarding World seems ill-prepared at times." Cassie laughed.   
  
"You couldn't sell all your products to Muggles, obviously. Anything like your Canary Cremes or the Rudolpho's or anything like that would be too . . . magical. And I think your Skiving Snackboxes, although they could work, would be dangerous. Someone could get seriously hurt with those things. But your firecrackers, that bubble bath, even your drinks, could be marketed easily enough and I think Muggles would just assume it was all chemicals rather than magic that was making things happen."   
  
"But I don't know anything about computers. And I don't think I could actually learn 'cause I don't think they would work around me."  
  
"I know. Believe me when I tell you that most business owners don't design their own web sites. You would just hire someone to do it and make it look the way you want it to and maintain it. They'd also take care if there were any breakdowns or hackers broke into it or anything. You'd just have to provide pictures of the products and tell them what sort of price you have in mind."   
  
"I don't know . . ." George thumbed through the book quickly. "We'd need to get permission from the Ministry, I suppose."   
  
"Probably. So you don't get in trouble for doing magic in front of Muggles. And you'd need to get a business license, too, so that you could sell to them. And you'd have a lot to learn - taxes, credit cards, the mail system, etc. - and that's just to start out with."   
  
"Ugh. You'd have to help me."   
  
"Of course." George stopped and stared at one page for a minute.   
  
"Is this a joke?"   
  
"What?" She looked to where he was pointing and smiled broadly.  
  
"No. Just a coincidence. But I think it's great. WWW stands for World Wide Web, actually. It was originally supposed to be one of several different networks, but now pretty much it's everything."   
  
"So, it really doesn't stand for Weasley's Wizard Wheezes?"   
  
"No, but I think you could be quite clever and think of some way to take advantage of everyone knowing WWW and let it help you with your marketing." George nodded and turned to another page, this time his eyebrows shooting up into his hairline as he read.   
  
"It says here that there are several wizarding businesses already on the internet."  
  
"I noticed that."   
  
"It says that they don't even try to hide the fact that they're wizards and that the Muggles don't question it."   
  
"They don't really believe they can do magic, though."   
  
"Wizards of the Coast - they sell game cards, like Pokeymans, whatever those are --"  
  
"I know. I don't even think you'd need to change your business name or anything. Just the packaging. I don't think it should move." George nodded again and flipped to another page.   
  
"So, we could hire a Muggle firm to ship the products?"  
  
"That's what this book recommends. And they could handle all the customer service and everything. That way, you don't have to get involved in that side of it since those are things you're not really comfortable with like telephones and the post office."   
  
"Hmmm. We've usually done all that ourselves. It's part of keeping our customers happy."   
  
"I understand that. But, I think the book's suggestion is a good one. You could set certain rules, so to speak, of how you wanted customer complaints addressed. You just don't have to be the one on the phone. For one thing, you wouldn't have time."   
  
"Well, I-"   
  
"Oi! George! Cassie! We're all going out to fly! Want to come?" Cassie looked up at Ron, Harry, Ginny, and even Hermione, who were all standing there bundled up and holding broomsticks. She hopped up immediately and even though George looked less enthusiastic, he also stood up from the couch.   
  
"Yeah. That sounds great. Just let us get a few more clothes on and we'll be out there." He put the book back in Fred's stack. "It really is a good idea, Cassie, even if we don't do it immediately."   
  
"Well, of course. For one thing, you're going to have to wait for this thing with the Ministry to resolve itself somehow. I don't think you could even apply for any sort of license with Nightscall in there." George smiled wryly as he took her hand and they started up the steps.   
  
"You don't think I could go up to him and announce that my girlfriend is this Muggle blond-haired, blue-eyed girl named Cassie Robinson and that she suggested we get a license to do business with Muggles?"   
  
"That would probably not be a really great plan."   
  
"It would make things interesting, that's for sure." By the time they got outside, everyone else was in the air. Almost everyone, that is. Hermione was bundled up against the cold but was sitting on a blanket spread on the ground reading a book. "Don't you want to fly, Hermione?"  
  
"You know how much I love to be up on a broom, George. I'm happier here."   
  
George just shrugged and helped Cassie onto the front of his broom. The two of them shot up from the ground and quickly joined the other three in the air where they were playing tag. Being the newcomers, Cassie and George were "it" and they spent the next few minutes chasing the others until they caught Ginny. The five of them continued to play tag for quite awhile until they tired of the game and just began flying around the paddock in lazy, relaxing circles. Cassie noticed that every so often Ron would swoop down close to Hermione and she would look up from her book and smile at him.   
  
George let Cassie do a lot of the steering and she took them into several tight curves and loops. George leaned close to Cassie's ear. "You do love flying, don't you?" Cassie turned a little, smiled at George and nodded. He looked intently into her blue eyes. "You may not be able to do magic, Cassie Robinson, but you have the heart and soul of a witch." Cassie felt her stomach tighten and her skin tingle. She again turned and looked into his eyes.  
  
"Do you really think so?"  
  
"Yes, I do. I also think I'd love to kiss you. Right now."   
  
Cassie arched an eyebrow at him. "Right now? While we're flying?"   
  
George grinned and Cassie thought she could see fire burning in his hazel eyes. She looked away, a bit overwhelmed at the intensity of his gaze, which she thought might actually set her alight. It was only then that she realized they had made a full sweep of the paddock and were close to the area where Ginny and Harry had flown. She glanced over at them and stifled a giggle. "George, it looks like you weren't the only one who thought kissing on a broom sounded like a good idea." George looked over and saw Ginny and Harry flying slowly along next to each other, arms around each other as they kissed.   
  
"It's easier if you're on the same broom, you two!" George called as he flew by them and both he and Cassie watched with some amusement as Ginny looked back at them and then looped on leg over Harry's broom, shifted her weight and practically climbed into her boyfriend's lap. Once she left her broom, the magic that had been holding it up didn't work anymore and the broom headed straight for the ground. Cassie watched nervously but it landed without incident. George's arms tightened around her as Ginny's arms slipped around Harry's neck and the couple lost themselves in another passionate kiss. "They've got the right idea, Cassie. Shall we follow their lead?" She nodded shyly.   
  
Cassie heard George give a low moan of desire. "Turn on the broom. It'll be easier to kiss you that way." The thought ran through her mind that she should be careful as it would be extremely embarrassing to have to explain to Arthur, Molly, and her parents that she had several broken bones because she and George were snogging thirty feet in the air on a broom and she had gotten so carried away she had fallen off. Even so, she wasn't going to pass up an opportunity like this. As if reading her mind, George pulled her a little closer to him and whispered in her ear that he wouldn't let her fall. She turned as he instructed so that she was sitting across his lap, her arms sneaking around his neck, partly so she could hold on and partly because that brought her closer to him. His lips found hers and they began another lazy circle in the air in each other's arms.   
  
Cassie barely noticed Ron gliding by and mumbling about everyone getting to snog but him but when George pulled away from her for a minute a little later to steer the broom through a rather rough patch of wind, she did notice Hermione sitting on Ron's lap, her arms around his neck, and their lips pressed together. She smiled into George's mouth as it lowered to hers again, even though she never did explain what she was smiling about.   
  
The impromptu lesson on the logistics of kissing on a broom lasted about half an hour before Ginny called out to all of them that they should probably go in. Cassie was glad they did, too, because Molly was starting to get dinner on the table. She looked up when they all walked in and smiled as she could tell they had been up on their brooms. "Did you kids have fun playing Quidditch?"  
  
"Yeah. It was great."  
  
"Who won?"   
  
"We did," everyone said at once and although Molly looked confused, they were all laughing as they trooped up the steps to change out of their heavy clothes and deposit their winter robes.   
  
"Did you have a good time, Hermione, on the broom?" Cassie asked when it was just the three of them in the bedroom.   
  
"Better than usual. I never would have guessed that kissing like that would have been so fun. But holding Ron like that, feeling the way his muscles were moving in his arms, . . .it was great."   
  
"Please, Hermione. I don't want to hear any details. And none from you either, Cassie. Remember those are my brothers you're kissing."  
  
"Well, I'm not too keen on hearing any details about your kissing Harry either, if you want to know the truth."   
  
Ginny looked at Hermione a bit askance. "Why not? He's not related to you."  
  
"No, but he's the closest thing I have to a brother. So, it's practically the same thing."   
  
"Let's just agree not to share any details," said Cassie as she peeled off her Weasley sweater. It was, as usual, warm in the house and she had noticed as they passed through the kitchen that Molly had the fire going full blast, presumably as part of the Christmas celebrations. The other two girls obviously thought along the same lines because they were changing into blouses, too. Cassie was already pretty dressed up from this morning but Ginny and Hermione weren't, so they quickly changed from jeans into slacks and pulled their hair back. All three of them had gotten jewelry for Christmas and they all put on the ones from their boyfriends, so that they wouldn't have their feelings hurt.   
  
The girls descended again to help Molly finish getting dinner and none of them, they confided to themselves as they giggled over the silverware, were surprised to see that the boys hadn't managed to make it downstairs. And, when they all sat down to leftovers 20 minutes later, they also weren't surprised to see that none of them had even changed clothes. But when Cassie asked George under her breath what he had been doing in the meantime, he just looked vaguely confused and shrugged. "Nothing, really. Why?"   
  
"No reason. Just wondering."   
  
Dinner was good although just reheated from the night before. The conversation was animated and much less tense than it had been the night before although Cassie keenly felt the absence of her parents. She knew they would be over at her grandparents' house, as they always were on Christmas afternoon, and she wished she could see them. She wondered what story they had told them to explain her absence, probably something about her visiting friends for the day. They didn't really see each other very often, and her absence for a month or a little more would not be noticed in the grand scheme of things.   
  
After the dinner dishes were cleaned up, Arthur, Molly, Remus, and Tonks all announced that they were going to a meeting/get together of Order members. Everyone was immediately concerned that they would be exposing themselves to the possibility of arrest, but Molly and Arthur weren't concerned about that. They were going to a very secure place, they explained, where most Order business was being carried out now, and they supposed that most of the Aurors who were working on hunting them down were with their own families tonight. Charlie was invited to go along, but declined and Molly said that was probably for the best as he could then chaperone the three younger couples.   
  
After the four adults left, Charlie looked at them. "Do you think you need me to chaperone you?"  
  
"No. I can take care of the youngsters - and you certainly don't need to watch me." George did his best to look mature. Cassie had the feeling that he was lying through his teeth; however, she kept her face serious and didn't laugh even though she was sorely tempted. Charlie looked at him with a studious gaze.   
  
"Well, um, what are you going to do? Mum would kill me if I left you alone and you got up to something."   
  
"I think we'll just play Exploding Snap or something. Maybe Gobstones. I don't think Cassie's figured those out yet." Charlie looked them over carefully.   
  
"Is that true?" Everybody nodded. Even Harry, who was notoriously bad at lying, looked at Charlie completely deadpan. It was apparently Harry's expression that did it because Charlie looked at him, nodded to himself, and went into the kitchen where a quiet pop announced his departure.   
  
Harry said into the sudden silence. "Cassie never has figured out to play Gobstones." Everybody broke up laughing and Cassie realized that the way Charlie had asked the question had allowed Harry to not actually lie when he had answered.   
  
"But what are we going to do?" Ginny asked. "We need to take advantage of this un-chaperoned time and do something totally wicked and unsuitable!"   
  
"Yeah! I've got something upstairs that fits the bill perfectly." George had a rather wicked grin on his face as he went upstairs to retrieve whatever entertainment he had in mind for the evening. He came back down a few minutes later with a small box. "Okay. Now that the old folks are gone, it's time we got down to some fun and entertainment. And tonight's fun and entertainment will be in the form of the all-time party favorite - 'Partners.'"  
  
Cassie, who had never heard of "Partners," watched the mixed reactions of the other people in the room. Ron got a big, goofy grin on his face and Ginny bit her lip with barely controlled excitement. Hermione looked slightly scandalized while Harry had a look of guilty pleasure. Ron was the one who dared to say something to his older brother.  
  
"Yeah. That sounds great. Now we can do some serious kissing."  
  
"I've never been allowed to play. Is it really as risqué as I've heard?" Ginny exclaimed eagerly, grabbing Harry's hand and leaning toward George.   
  
"Pretty much. Some of the questions could make a sailor blush. That's why I keep it hidden upstairs with a charm to make it look like a box of spare potion ingredients. Mum would have kittens if she knew I owned it. But due to the fact that you five are still under age . . . we'll just play with the milder questions."   
  
"It's only Cassie and Ginny who are under age!" Ron protested; and the two girls shot him a dirty look. Hermione elbowed him in the stomach.   
  
"Ron!"   
  
"Fine. . . but, uh, how do we know which ones are the milder ones?"   
  
"We read them, of course!" said George and Cassie thought that he had a slightly wicked grin on his face as he said it. "So . . . is everyone in?"   
  
"Are you kidding?" Hermione said. "I wouldn't miss it. I've read a lot about this game. It's banned at school, you know."   
  
"Banned? By whom?" Ron asked as George opened the box and started pulling out the pieces.  
  
"Filch, of course. Haven't you ever read the list of banned items on his door?"   
  
"Oh, yeah. Every term." The sarcasm in Ron's voice was practically dripping and Cassie smothered a smile behind her hand.   
  
"Well, you should. It's quite interesting."  
  
"Yeah. I'll do that." But he rolled his eyes and even Hermione smiled even though it was her he was teasing.   
  
They all sat down on the floor in a circle as George explained the rules of the game. "Now, we spin a die and whoever's name comes up, the question gets asked about them. Then that person and his or her partner have to both answer the question and see if they both select the same answer from the five options. If they both answer in the same, they get a point and they get to kiss each other. If they don't get it right, then they don't get a point and the other two teams each get a point and they get to kiss each other. It's pretty easy, really. It's just to see how well you really know your partner."   
  
Cassie felt butterflies in her stomach as George charmed the die to read their names and set up a magical scoreboard in the air above the couch. Then he handed each of them a card. "Hm. I'm not sure how Cassie is going to be able to play."   
  
"Why not?"   
  
"Once you've decided on your answer, you set a charm on the card and it doesn't allow you to change your answer so you can't cheat."   
  
"Oh." Cassie thought for a minute and then had Ron hand her the set of Exploding Snap cards she had gotten for Christmas. "There are five answers to each question, right?" At George's nod, she picked cards numbered Ace-5 out of the deck. "I'll just show one of these. And you know I can't cheat by changing the numbers magically, so this will work." Everyone agreed that it would, and they settled down to play.   
  
"How high shall we play?" George suddenly asked and they decided that the first couple to get 15 points would win the grand prize. Cassie asked what the prize was, but George didn't say, just promised it was worth winning, so they needed to work really hard at trying to answer correctly.   
  
The die spun by itself when George pointed his wand at it and Cassie remembered an earlier conversation they had had about wizards and dice. "I thought you never played with dice because it was too easy to cheat."   
  
"Well, that's true, but in this game there's really no advantage or disadvantage to any spin, so there'd be no reason to cheat." George explained. "Now, we can either read the questions ourselves or have the card read itself. Any preferences?" Hermione insisted that they each read their own questions so they could weed out any that crossed the line of decency. Ron looked disappointed but shrugged, undoubtedly realizing she was right and maybe thinking that if he put up too much protest, she may nix the idea completely.   
  
As it turned out, Hermione ended up being the first person to have a question asked about her. Cassie listened with interest, wondering what kind of questions were on the little cards in the box George handed to Ron. Everyone's eyes were bright with enthusiasm as Ron reached in and pulled out the first one. Ron groaned as he read the question. It was a rather innocuous one: If your partner could be brilliant in one category, which would it be? The possible answers were 1.Quidditch, 2. Charms, 3. Potions, 4. Transfiguration, and 5. Divination. Ron had to answer first, according to George, and register his vote before Hermione could. Ron agonized for a long moment, looking nervously at Hermione as though hoping to read the answer on her forehead. But he finally touched his wand to the card and Hermione quickly touched hers. "It's obvious, really. You should have figured it out immediately." Ron looked even more nervous at that and Cassie felt bad for him. This was supposed to be fun, after all. But fortunately for him, they both had selected Transfiguration and everyone else clapped. George marked a point on the scoreboard in the air and with great ceremony announced that they could kiss. The fact that four people were watching them didn't seem to dampen their enthusiasm for their prize and they kissed happily. When they finally broke apart, George raised his eyebrows at Cassie, an unspoken question in his eyes. She flushed and winked at him. He smiled back and pointed his wand at the die, which spun quickly and landed with Harry's name on the top.   
  
Ginny, with a large smirk, read the question. "If your partner were a display of affection, which would he be?" The choices were 1. A lingering kiss, 2. A hug, 3. A firm handshake, 4. A wink, 5. A slap on the back.   
  
Ginny giggled as she selected her number, which turned out to be a 3. Harry, who held up number 2, scowled. "Hey, I'm not that bad, am I? I mean, I know I'm not too open with my affection, but that's just cold." Ginny just laughed harder and leaned over to kiss Harry.  
  
"Uh, uh." George held up his wand and grinned evilly at them. "You didn't answer correctly. You two don't get to kiss. However, we do." With that, he marked a point in both Ron's column and his column, and then he took Cassie in his arms and gave her a big kiss. Cassie quickly decided this game really was a lot of fun. Afterward, George pointed his wand at the die and groaned when his name was the one on top when it was done spinning.   
  
Cassie took the card, skimmed it, and laughed. Then she read the question out clearly to the waiting group. "Pretend you and your partner were kissing goodnight on your first date. Where would he plant it? 1. Lips, 2. Earlobe, 3. Cheek, 4. Feet, or 5. Tonsils." Cassie grinned at everyone's expectant looks, then picked the Ace out of her pile and laid it face down on the floor in front of her. George touched his wand to his card and then they counted to three and turned them over at the same moment. Both she and George had selected lips. and, as they enjoyed a long kiss, he made a mark in the air with his wand on the scoreboard.   
  
Ginny was next and Ron groaned. "When is it going to be my turn?" Hermione just tutted at his eagerness while Harry reached for the next card in the pile. He read it over quickly and his eyebrows disappeared completely under his fringe as he finished.   
  
"Uh, I think we'd better get a different question. I think this is one of those really risque ones we talked about. You'd kill me if I knew the answer to this one." Cassie was dying to know what it asked, just out of curiosity, but George whisked it away from Harry and tucked it into his back pocket. Harry picked the next card and visibly relaxed as he skimmed it. "Pretend your partner turned you into a bundimun, which of the following would she do? 1. Laugh about it, 2. Apologize and try to change you back into a human, 3. Run away and hope no one finds out, 4. Call The Daily Prophet to give them an exclusive interview, or 5. Turn herself into the same thing so you could be together." Harry and Ginny both began snickering and when they flipped over their cards, they both held up number 1. Again, there was applause as George made a mark in the air and Ginny and Harry enjoyed their first long kiss of the game.  
  
Cassie looked at Hermione. "What exactly is a bundimun?"   
  
"Well, it looks like green fungus with eyes and it lets off a horrible smell."  
  
"I see. Sorry I asked."  
  
Cassie was the next subject and George picked out a card and read it to himself. His eyes grew large in surprise. "I'm not going to ask this question. It doesn't apply." That card joined the other one in his pocket and Cassie giggled. He picked up another and scanned it quickly. Cassie chanced a sideways glance at George. She noticed he had a bit of a blush but was fighting to hold back a laugh. "Hmmm. Okay, I think this will work. Pretend your partner is a Quidditch player. What position would she play? 1. Seeker, 2. Chaser, 3. Keeper, 4. Beater, or 5. Water-boy?" Cassie knew immediately which number she would pick, but she waited for George to select his answer and he looked at her appraisingly for a minute. He finally tapped his card, she laid hers down on the table and at the count of three, they held them up. George had selected number 2, Chaser. To his obvious chagrin, Cassie had selected number 1, Seeker. Harry cheered enthusiastically and George scowled at him. "You've never played Seeker before."  
  
"No, but I've never played Chaser, either. If I had my druthers, darling, you know I'd play Beater. But Seeker would be second best." Everyone had a good laugh at the thought of her playing Beater but George didn't look too appeased, especially as she couldn't even kiss him to make him feel better. Finally, Ron's name came up one the die and he grinned as Hermione picked a card out of the box.   
  
"Pretend your partner is a body part, what would he be? 1. Nose, 2. Foot, 3. Ear, 4. Buttocks, or 5. Tongue." Ron began smirking almost immediately. It took Hermione a minute to decide her final answer, but then she tapped her card and Ron quickly did the same. They held their numbers up at the signal and groaned. Hermione had selected number 3. Ear, while Ron had selected number 5. Tongue.  
  
"Ear! You picked ear for me? You always say I never listen to you!"   
  
"Well, I wasn't thinking about that. I was thinking that you have rather large ears. And why on earth did you pick tongue?"  
  
"My ears aren't large! And I picked tongue because -"  
  
"Because you're always hungry?" Ginny guessed.   
  
"Well, no. Because, uh, Hermione says she likes my tongue. She says it's very talented."   
  
Hermione turned beet red, glanced quickly around at the others who were in various stages of open-mouth surprise or actually laughing out loud. "Oh, thanks, Ron! Let's just announce to everyone, why don't we?" She turned to George "May I change my answer to buttocks, please?" It was at least five minutes before people could stop laughing long enough to continue the game. Hermione's turn came around next again and she was asked what potion she would be, and among the options such as a calming potion and a love potion, was polyjuice potion, Hermione and Ron both smiled as they selected number 4. polyjuice potion and got to kiss to make up for the misunderstanding earlier.  
  
The game continued for several more rounds with Ron and Hermione in a comfortable lead. Cassie was surprised to find that she and George were second. Unfortunately, that meant Harry and Ginny brought up a very distant rear. However, Cassie realized this was because Ginny seemed to have more fun selecting some of the wilder answers than actually trying to match Harry's responses. For example, Cassie was pretty sure Ginny really didn't have a desire to snog with a centaur, although Harry rolled his eyes and muttered something about school-girl crushes. However, he was not so stoic when Ginny had answered that his secret favorite color for robes was pink. Again, it took awhile for people to regain their composure to continue with the game.  
  
Cassie and George both selected a unicorn for Cassie if she were a magical beast, while Ron and Hermione naturally selected a Kneazle for a familiar that matched her personality. The fact that Crookshanks was a Kneazle helped their selection. Their unity in selection faltered a little when Ron selected blond for the color of hair of someone he would secretly like to snog with. Although Ron insisted he had accidently picked the wrong number, Hermione and the others had doubts. Everyone looked at her in surprise when she muttered a rather strong swear word under her breath in conjunction with Fleur's name. Cassie was just grateful that Hermione didn't jump to the conclusion that it was her Ron wanted to snog.   
  
Hermione finally forgave Ron for his injudicious selection and they continued their winning streak, the winning question being one directed to Hermione. Ron grinned wickedly as he read the question. "What would your partner do if she had to win you from another lover? 1. Create a love potion, 2. Have a wizard duel, 3. Polyjuice into your rival and break-up with your lover, 4. Arrange for a crippling or even fatal accident, 5. Perform the Avadra Kedavra curse on the competition." Both of them seemed to really sweat over their choice. However, they both came up with the winning answer: Have a wizard duel. This response brought not only cheers, but a good amount of laughter and comments about not getting in Hermione's way.  
  
As the game came to an end, George stood up and declared Ron and Hermione the winners. "Good game, everyone. And although I wish it could be Cassie and myself, you two definitely deserve the grand prize. And that is . . . Ten minutes uninterrupted time in the coat closet, to converse about the game or do whatever else you wish." Everyone clapped and cheered and Cassie thought that Ginny looked a little disappointed she hadn't worked harder toward winning the game. "You two may proceed to the closet," and he indicated the other end of the living room.   
  
Hermione demurred. "It's packed full. There won't be any room in there."  
  
George grinned. "Oh come now, Hermione. How much room do you and Ron need anyway? I've seen you two kiss. Besides, Fred and I cleaned the closet a couple of nights ago. We had hoped to play this when Angelina was here. We just didn't get a chance."  
  
Ginny laughed. "You mean Mum and Dad spent every evening here and you didn't want them to know you owned the game."  
  
"Uh, that too."  
  
With that, George ceremoniously opened the door to what appeared to be a clean and spacious closet. To a chorus of loud cheers, Ron and Hermione entered the closet and George officiously announced that he would put a silencing charm on the closet so they would be able to enjoy their privacy. As he started to shut the door he commented, "Now behave, you two. I don't want to see any unbuttoned or inside out clothing when you emerge."  
  
The other four enjoyed some chocolates and light conversation for the next ten minutes although Cassie had to admit her attention was focused firmly on what was happening behind that door. A timer sounded somewhere and George walked over to the closet and pulled on the knob.   
  
"I hope you're both decent because I'm opening the door."  
  
Ron emerged with disheveled hair and an embarrassed grin on his face. He was followed closely by a blushing Hermione who had a dazed but very pleased expression on her own face. However, it was the rest of her appearance that caused the others to gasp. Her hair looked windswept and her blouse was buttoned crookedly. Ginny pointed at Hermione's blouse and the two snoggers flushed bright red, but then started laughing.  
  
"It's a joke. That's all. Ron thought of it and it took a lot of talking for me to agree to it. He just suggested I unbutton my blouse and then re-button it wrong. Honestly." Cassie wanted to believe her. She really did. But she didn't. For one thing, she thought that if she and George had been in that closet, they wouldn't have spent time thinking about practical jokes to play on the other two couples. For another thing, she didn't think that sort of subtle humor was really Ron's style. But all four of them nodded seriously and Hermione tried to look dignified as she hurried back into the closet to adjust her clothing.   
  
It was Ginny who finally dared to break the rather uncomfortable silence when Hermione came back out. "Well, I'd say they had a pretty good time snogging in the closet. So, Harry, want to go in the closet for awhile?"  
  
"Sure. But, I'm not too good with buttons. You'd have to undo them yourself." George and Ron both growled their displeasure and Harry held up his hands. "Kidding. I'm only kidding. I, uh, appreciate the offer, Ginny, but I think this is a bit public for my tastes."   
  
"You two didn't seem so shy this afternoon," Cassie teased. George cleaned up the game as they all visited about some of the questions. "That was a fun game." She sighed in vague disappointment as George took the cards out of his pocket and slipped them into the box. She was hoping he would at least let her look at them. He caught her eye and winked. She flushed, a little embarrassed at being caught staring at the cards with the naughty questions.   
  
"Curious, little girl?"   
  
"A bit. Should I be ashamed?"  
  
"Oh, most definitely. Very ashamed. I believe I have corrupted you quite thoroughly."   
  
"Yes, I believe you have."   
  
They had hot cocoa in the kitchen as they waited for everyone else to arrive home from their social engagements. The four older wizards arrived first and smiled around at the six sitting calmly at the table. Molly looked around and then asked where Charlie was. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence, and then Ginny spoke up. "Well, he stayed with us for awhile, but then asked if we would be okay if he went and visited someone. We've been just fine. We played a game and then came in here to have some hot chocolate."  
  
Molly's eyes narrowed at Ginny in careful scrutiny and then, after a moment or so, she relaxed, sighed and muttered about Charlie obviously visiting Sylvania Smallwood who had been assisting him with his dragons for the past several months. "I think he's quite smitten with her. Maybe something will come of it. Well," she mumbled, stifling a yawn, "it's late and I am certainly tired. Goodnight, everyone and Happy Christmas again. Don't stay up too late." She bid Remus and Tonks goodnight and a minute later they too said goodnight as they climbed the stairs.  
  
Cassie and the others reluctantly agreed that Christmas was officially over. The three couples climbed the stairs to the girls' landing where they kissed goodnight for a long while outside Ginny's door. Tonks came out of Bill's room to go to the loo and she looked meaningfully at them. "Much as I hate to play the heavy, I feel somewhat obligated to tell you that you need to break this little party up." So, with obvious reluctance, the boys left the girls and with only a few secretive glances, all three of them headed upstairs.   
  
Cassie changed into her nightshirt and slipped into bed, smiling happily to herself. It had been one of the best Christmases of her entire life. And no matter what eventually happened between George and herself, she intended to remember every minute of this wonderful Christmas Day.


	67. Dumbledore's Plan

Chapter 67  
Dumbledore's Plan  
  
Cassie awoke the next morning to the muted gray light that told her the last few days of clear blue skies had come to an end and that Boxing Day was going to be cloudy and rainy. She groaned and sat up. Hermione was standing by her bed, packing a small overnight bag.  
  
"Good morning. Are you ready to go?"  
  
"Yeah. But Ron isn't. I just saw him out in the hall and I think he would rather face a horde of Death Eaters than go to my parents' house for the day."  
  
"Why? I thought he got along well enough with them?"  
  
"Well, he does. I mean as well as someone can get along with two people they don't know very well and whom he has nothing in common with."  
  
"That's not true." Hermione's brow knitted and she looked at Cassie with vague confusion.  
  
"What?"  
  
"It's not true that they have nothing in common. As I see it, they have one very big thing in common - although that might be why he's so nervous." Hermione didn't look any more enlightened. "Oh, silly. They all love you, very much. And Ron is afraid that . . ."  
  
" . . .That he's somehow encroaching on their territory and that they resent him for it." Hermione finished her sentence, a grin slowly growing on her face.  
  
"And they probably do. But you know what? Every parent has to come to that moment of realization and accept it."  
  
Hermione laughed. "You're pretty smart, for a kid."  
  
"Thanks. But it just dawned on me, myself. Now, if I was just brave enough to tell my parents that about George, maybe I could get somewhere." The two girls smiled at each other. "And don't think I didn't notice that kid remark, by the way." Hermione did a quick shrinking charm on the bag and stuffed it into the pocket of her jeans.  
  
"I was just teasing you."  
  
"How are you getting there?"  
  
"Apparating. It's the easiest. Hardest to trace, too. I don't know if it's a good idea to go, but . . . my parents wouldn't take no for an answer." She sighed. "It's hard to know how far to push things. If I told them that everyone is in danger of dying if the Burrow is found, they would get upset, naturally. But if I just told them that it's not convenient to come, they get their feelings hurt. So, I have to find some happy medium and usually that means I get talked into doing things that are not really a good idea. It's the same thing over and over again, every time." Cassie grimaced.  
  
"What do your parents know about . . . Voldemort and everything? I mean, how do you explain it to them?"  
  
"I've tried to tell them. I think they understand pretty well. They have to now because they were attacked and everything, remember?"  
  
"That must have frightened them."  
  
"Yeah. It did."  
  
"How do they-" A pounding on the door interrupted Cassie's next question and she sighed to herself. She had a lot of questions for Hermione. The deeper she got in her relationship with George, the more questions she had for her because the was the one whose situation most closely resembled her own. Not that it was anywhere really close, but it was the best she could do. "You better go. It sounds like Ron is anxious to get this over with."  
  
"Mmmm. We'll be back tomorrow morning. Have fun without us." She opened the door and Ron said something Cassie couldn't here. She did get a good look at his face, though, and it did look decidedly green.  
  
"Come on, Hermione. You know your parents want us there for breakfast." Hermione smiled at Cassie and stepped out the door, shutting it behind her. Cassie lay back on her bed, staring through the crack in the curtains at the watery sunlight. She hoped she would be able to go back to sleep, but after 15 minutes, she realized that was not going to happen. She got up, stretched, and pulled on her bathrobe. Miraculously, there was no one either in the bathroom or waiting to get into it so she stepped in and took a nice long shower, a luxury she had not allowed herself in the week since Ginny, Hermione, Harry, and Ron had arrived from Hogwarts. She dressed in another of her new outfits this morning and it was while she was buttoning up her new blouse that Ginny woke up. She stretched and sat up, but Cassie noted with some concern, that she had dark circles under her eyes. Cassie did some quick calculations. She had been in bed for approximately 9 hours. She shouldn't be tired.  
  
"Are you okay, Ginny?"  
  
"Oh, yeah. Same as usual."  
  
"Uh, what does that mean?"  
  
"I didn't sleep too well. Sometimes I have nightmares. Nothing to worry about."  
  
"You sure?" Ginny nodded.  
  
"What are our plans for today? Did you and George have anything going on?"  
  
"Not that I know of." Ginny got up with a grimace and 30 minutes later, both girls headed downstairs to see what Molly wanted them to do.  
  
In all the years that she could remember, Cassie had loved the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve. It always seemed to her, even when she was very young, to be one of the more relaxing weeks of the year. The chaos of the Christmas preparations had passed and you had a whole pile of great new stuff to keep yourself from getting bored. But not much was expected of you. School was out, of course, and some years her dad hadn't even had to work. The entire world seemed to take a deep calming breath before starting regular life again.  
  
This week at the Burrow was to a great degree much like that. At least for Cassie. Things were going on, that became very obvious as the days crawled by, but in some strange way, she observed them from afar, not getting too involved - even though she knew that she was one of the main players in the script everyone else was reading from. She knew instinctively that George was shielding her to a great degree from the outside world and she was content to let him do so. Maybe this was selfish of her, but she couldn't seem to bring herself to protest.  
  
There were, naturally, a few highlights of the days and by Tuesday night, the glass walls that seemed to encase her while still letting her see everyone else moving around had shattered into a million pieces and she was dragged kicking and screaming back out onto the stage to play out her role, finish the drama, close the play.  
  
But that morning as she and Ginny descended the steps, she had no idea what the week would bring. If she had, maybe she would have turned around and run back upstairs. "Fred! You're back! Wonderful." Ginny hugged her older brother and Fred winked at Cassie over her head. "It's too bad you missed Ron. Now he's at his girlfriend's house. I bet he could have used some advice."  
  
"I could Floo him with one big piece that I learned by sad experience." He sounded solemn but Cassie knew he was kidding around.  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Don't snog your girlfriend so passionately that you forget you're at her house and her parents could walk in on you. Even though Hermione's parents are Muggles and can't hex him with the full-body bind, I bet Mrs. Granger is handy with a frying pan."  
  
"That's good advice."  
  
"Thought so. Wish someone had thought to pass it on to me."  
  
"Hey, Fred! How's Angelina doing?" George descended the steps and slipped his arms around Cassie. Ginny smiled at the window and opened the door for Harry, who came in carrying his broomstick with very wet hair and the two of them slipped into a private conversation that excluded everyone else in the room. Cassie turned her attention back to the red-headed twins.  
  
"She's good. Her parents were very nice to me. Almost too nice. I kept thinking I was missing something and kept looking over to my shoulder to see what curses they were aiming my direction."  
  
"Did you have a chance to ask her? What did she say?"  
  
"I wanted to. I was all ready, but I never did. I think I'm going to wait."  
  
"Ask her what? Wait for what?" Fred raised an eyebrow at Cassie.  
  
"I didn't know you were so good at keeping secrets, George. You can tell her. I'm going upstairs."  
  
"Aren't you going to eat?"  
  
"Already did. I'm going to go lay down."  
  
"What's going on, George?" Cassie looked into George's troubled face.  
  
"He wanted to ask her to marry him. He had the ring and everything. But I guess he felt like she would say no."  
  
"What? But she's crazy for him." It was only later that day after George had talked to Fred privately for the greater part of an hour that Cassie's suspicions were confirmed. Angelina was crazy for Fred and probably would have said yes before Fred could even finish stammering out the question. But he had told George that sitting there in her parents' house, he had decided he didn't want to bring her further into the conflict than she already was. He was, and he knew it, a big target. Hell, his whole family were targets and right now they were also wanted by the Ministry as criminals. What did he have to offer her? When George told her this as they sat on the couch before dinner, Cassie wanted to run upstairs and tell Fred he was being stupid but George told her in no uncertain terms that she was not to interfere. That this was something Fred needed to figure out for himself.  
  
Saturday Ron and Hermione returned from their visit and Ron exclaimed his pleasure at being back in the burrow with great enthusiasm. Hermione pursed her lips. "It wasn't that bad, Ron. Honestly, you act like you can't stand them."  
  
"I like your parents, it's just hard to not do magic, you know. It's confining."  
  
"Yeah. Right." Hermione shook her head at Ginny and lowered her voice so that only Cassie and Ginny could hear her. "He's 17 and they're parents of a witch. I did magic several times while I was there. He just gets so nervous that he couldn't cast a summoning charm. He tried once to lock the study door so we could kiss. He set the door on fire." All three girls laughed and Ron's ears turned bright red, probably guessing what they were laughing about. "Don't tell the boys, though. He'll never hear the end of it if they find out."  
  
Saturday afternoon was dreary and overcast and Cassie wanted to spend it curled up with George somewhere by a fire with a good book. He, however, was busy with Order business, he said, and was apparating in and out of the Burrow several times. When they sat down to dinner that evening, two people Cassie had only met briefly were there, too, because they were in the middle of having a meeting with Molly, Arthur, Remus, Tonks, Fred, George, and Charlie. Things were starting to happen. Cassie could feel it. Kingsley Shacklebolt was very pleasant and he told Cassie that he had met with her parents only the day before and that they were well. The other man, Mad-Eye Moody, was more disconcerting. He kept looking around the table with his normal small dark eye but kept the bright blue one trained on her during the entire meal. Professor Dumbledore came after dinner and sat in on the meeting, which Cassie desperately wished she could attend.  
  
"Be grateful you can't, Cassie. I used to want to know everything, but now ignorance is bliss and all that." Harry stared into the fire and tightened his grip on Ginny's hand. "It's when they want you to know what's going on that you have to worry. That means they want you to do something."  
  
"I thought you wanted to get rid of Voldemort." Ron flinched at Cassie's casual use of the name, coming as it was sort of out of the blue.  
  
"I do." Harry didn't elaborate and Cassie didn't press him. She didn't know how much he had ever told the others about the prophecy concerning his connection with the dark wizard. She knew the Order members were aware of it, but she had gotten the impression from him that they were all sworn to secrecy.  
  
Professor Snape came back to the Burrow on Sunday, accompanied by a woman named Hestia Jones. They were both agitated and it didn't seem to be from fear of what George and Fred would do to them. In fact, the woman seemed to like all the Weasleys, and hugged everyone within reach. Professor Snape had his usual scowl on his face as he surveyed them. "Where's your father?"he barked at Charlie who pinched his lips but didn't say anything rude in return, which Cassie thought was pretty noble of him.  
  
"Upstairs. I'll get him."  
  
"I thought you should know, Arthur, that the Aurors have picked up their search for us again. And they're particularly looking in North Umbria." Arthur's face leeched color and he sat down hard into a chair that Fred practically shoved under him as he was already headed toward the ground.  
  
"Oh." The silence in the room was complete. It took Cassie quite a few minutes to remember that North Umbria was the location Tonks had "given" to Percy on Christmas Eve for the new Order headquarters. They had tricked him in case he went back and blabbed to the Ministry. Their fears, it seemed, were well-founded.  
  
"The bloody prat," George muttered under his breath. Cassie squeezed his hand in support but her stomach was somewhere in her big toe. If he had talked about that, it was likely he had talked about her as well.  
  
"Tell them the rest, Severus." Professor Snape looked as Hestia Jones as though she was a particularly disgusting furry bunny.  
  
"Fine. Fudge is getting better. He should be leaving St. Mungo's within the day. If Miss . . ." Snape's eyes snapped toward Cassie with the familiar loathing in their black depths. " . . . Spencer/Robinson, whatever her name is today, if she is correct that Nightscall is involved, this could be a very dangerous moment for us all."  
  
"I-"  
  
"Oh, think man! Nightscall only has one more day to finish doing whatever he's going to do before Furdge returns. And I don't have to tell you that along with whatever else he's got planned, killing your little Muggle guest is high on his list." George growled and every muscle of his body tensed up. Cassie at first thought it was a reaction to the tone of voice he had used toward Arthur, but when no one else did more than frown, she realized it was probably more to do with his statement about her.  
  
"Severus!" Hestia Jones stared at Professor Snape with fire in her eyes. "You have all the diplomatic skills of a mountain troll. Honestly!" She turned to Arthur and now Molly who had just entered the kitchen. "We think it's possible that the attack at the ball was interrupted and thus was not finished. Fudge may have been supposed to die. So, if Nightscall is desperate enough to hold onto his power, he may try again. Albus thinks we need to post guards. But . . ."  
  
"Who? None of us can show our faces out of doors, much less at St. Mungo's. And it's not like he would welcome any of us with open arms. We aren't exactly friends."  
  
"Then it seems obvious to all of us, that it's going to have to be an invisible patrol, doesn't it?" Professor Snape had certainly mastered the art of sarcasm. "And Miss Robinson here has got to identify the last two wizards at that little meeting. Things are coming to a head and we're really out of time for her to indulge in the luxury of forgetfulness." His eyes raked over her once again but Cassie noticed that he did not try to probe her brain. He had at least learned that that would get him nowhere.  
  
Cassie opened her mouth to protest his assumption that she was enjoying this luxury of forgetfulness. For one thing, she hadn't forgotten anything, just was incapable of transferring that memory to anyone else. But she didn't have a chance, because Professor Snape nodded curtly at Arthur and then disapparated out of the Burrow. Hestia scowled at the empty space where the Potion Master had stood only a split-second before.  
  
"We'll be starting patrols immediately. We need to keep Fudge alive for at least five more days. Here's the schedule. Here's Moody's invisibility cloak. The hall outside his room at the hospital is quiet and you can sit there for hours with no one noticing. Albus will be here tomorrow after dinner, he said, to discuss something else with you. Goodnight. And I'm sorry about Percy. I've always liked him." And then, she was gone too.  
  
Cassie never saw the schedule of who was patrolling and when. She preferred it that way. George and Fred went into work on Monday morning and she thought it was likely that they were taking turns during the day. Arthur and Molly and Bill for that matter (who had finally arrived back from France looking rested and happy) could have taken turns on Monday very easily without Cassie even knowing, she decided. Ginny, Hermione, and Cassie as well as Ron and Harry kept to themselves most of the day doing homework. Well, Cassie didn't do homework, of course. She just watched everyone else do it under Hermione's supervision.  
  
"We've only got one more week before we go back to school. It's N.E.W.T year, Ron. Anything you study now will be very helpful later on." Ron and Harry seemed resigned to her bullying and dutifully copied down the study schedule she had prepared for them for the next six months. Ginny hid her smile behind a transfiguration essay that she was working on. Hermione was nagging her, too, but since it wasn't her N.E.W.T. year, it didn't have quite the desperate tone that the boys were getting.  
  
Cassie was quizzing Harry on common potion ingredients when he stopped reciting and looked at her. "What are you doing about your school?" Cassie blinked at him.  
  
"What?"  
  
"You're missing school for this." This statement was made as though the thought had never crossed his mind before.  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Well, what are you doing about it?"  
  
"Have a lot of makeup work, I guess. I get good grades, so most of the teachers are pretty willing to work with me. But if this stretches on for too much longer past this week, I don't know what I'm going to do, really. I don't want to fail the entire year."  
  
"What sort of classes do Muggles take at school, anyway?" Ron asked with more enthusiasm than he probably would normally have shown on the subject. Cassie knew that he was just trying to stall from the task Hermione had set him of writing down every charm they knew.  
  
"I take maths, literature, chemistry, history and government, and French.  
  
"What's chem . . . chemistry?" Ron pretended he didn't see Hermione's pointed glance at the paper he was holding.  
  
"Sort of like potions. But no magic. We make stuff, or talk about making stuff, to see how the different elements interact with each other."  
  
"And the elements are earth, fire, water, and air, right?"  
  
"Ron! Honestly! Stop stalling." Hermione scowled.  
  
"No. That's all right, Hermione. I'll tell him quickly. Elements are actually the basic building blocks of all things on earth, Ron." Cassie supplied. "You know, the basic atomic level of all matter." Ron nodded, trying to look like he knew what she was talking about. Cassie tried to explain further. "Like water, for example. It's not an element because it can be broken into smaller pieces." Ron looked even more confused and Cassie could tell this was way out of his league. And she didn't know how to start explaining it to him. "Water is actually made up of two other elements, hydrogen and oxygen, and if you take two hydrogen molecules and one oxygen molecule and put them together, you get one atom of water." Cassie literally saw Ron's eyes glaze over and she sighed. "Well, it makes sense when you take the class. I like it."  
  
She turned back to the list in her hand and started quizzing Harry again. To her surprise, it was Hermione who broke into her task the next time. "So, Cassie. What are your plans when you finish school in a year or so?"  
  
"I hadn't really decided. I had thought maybe I would get a teaching certificate. But now I don't know." She shrugged. "I guess I'll see what else happens." Molly called them down an hour later for dinner and they all were grateful for the respite from the homework. All but Hermione, that is.  
  
George and Fred apparated into the kitchen after dinner had already started and they both looked weary as they scooped stew into their bowls. "I just want to tell you again, Cassie, that gift certificate idea of yours was brill!" said Fred when he finally stopped shoveling food into his mouth. "We were absolutely packed full today."  
  
"Great!"  
  
"And they did just what you said they'd do. They'd bring in a certificate for a certain amount and wind up spending a lot more to get something they really wanted. And everyone was happy because they didn't have to try to get to 15 other stores before the shops closed. And they placed special orders that wouldn't be ready for a while because the deadline of Christmas is not an issue." George grimaced as Fred's recitation wound down.  
  
"I was going to tell her, Fred. Thanks." Cassie looked at George and grinned.  
  
"It's okay. I'm just glad they worked out."  
  
"Hey, we need to come in and trade our certificates in, too," Ron remembered. "Cassie gave them to me and Harry for Christmas."  
  
"Why don't you come in on Wednesday? We're going to be having an end-of-the year sale that day and your money will go further."  
  
"Hey, okay. We'll do that." Ron looked enthusiastically at his brothers and Cassie shook her head in pity. It was obvious to her that this was a bit of a ploy to get the two boys into the shop. They were going to recruit them to help run the till that day. She knew it without even having to ask. How convenient for them - unpaid help that just happened to show up on the day they were needed.  
  
Everyone lapsed into silence after that. There was an almost tangible feeling of sorrow at the table. Molly and Arthur had been quiet ever since the night before when Professor Snape had announced that Percy had betrayed them yet again and Cassie knew that this sort of pain was deep and would take a long time to heal. Cassie knew the silence was also partly due to the fact that Professor Dumbledore would be coming after dinner to talk to her about something. The fact she had needed a day's advance notice did not bode well for any hope that this was about something pleasant. When he did arrive, he smiled around at each of them, but Cassie could sense that behind the smile was some deep concern. Everyone went into the living room, where they all sat down, waiting for his news.  
  
"Fudge has taken a bit of a downturn. We thought he might be being cursed or poisoned, but upon further investigation that does not seem to be the case. The healers still assure me that he will be out tomorrow. So, one more day of patrols. We'll do a repeat of today's schedule if that's okay with all of you." Everyone nodded. Professor Dumbledore looked at Cassie and took a deep breath. She knew that the time had come for the bad news for her. She just hoped it wasn't too terrible.  
  
"The Ministry under Nightscall has increased their activities in the last few days, both with the Muggle government and with the Aurors. Mr. Robinson has expressed concern with the Prime Minister's behavior which is apparently growing more and more erratic. Death Eaters have been seen moving in areas in the daylight where they never would have dared before. They have even moved around with Muggles nearby and there are rumors of Dementors starting to surface."  
  
"But none of the people at the meeting were Death Eaters!" Cassie exclaimed. She had looked at every photograph of known Death Eaters and none of them had looked familiar.  
  
"No, Miss Robinson. None of the ones you did not know were recognized as Death Eaters. But there was most certainly one there." Suddenly, Cassie remembered and she flushed bright red in embarrassment.  
  
"Oh, yeah. Malfoy. Of course."  
  
"He was their liaison, obviously. Since they have been able to move forward with their plans with virtually no disruption, we must assume that they are somehow involved and that Tom Riddle is involved in this somehow." He cleared his throat delicately. "The sad fact of the matter is that we have no more possibilities to suggest for the last two wizards we are trying to identify and we are quite plainly out of time. It is critical now as never before that we know the other two who were present at that meeting." Cassie gulped. She didn't think this sounded like it was going to be pleasant at all.  
  
"But what can you do? You can't force her to remember!" George spoke up, anger radiating through his voice.  
  
"I remember! I haven't forgotten! I just can't describe them well enough to . . ."  
  
"My potion is ready."  
  
"Oh." Cassie was the only one who said anything.  
  
"What potion?" everyone asked at once.  
  
"It is called a recordatiunio potion. It will strengthen Miss Robinson's mind, allow us to-"  
  
"Strengthen her mind? What does that mean?" George's voice was the loudest, but not the only one asking that question. Professor Dumbledore smiled at George and then at Cassie.  
  
"Have you ever heard of a pensieve?"  
  
"No. What's that?" Cassie didn't think it sounded very nice.  
  
"It's a device - a storage device, so to speak. They're not exactly common, but not rare, either. They store memories."  
  
"Memories?"  
  
"Yes. You can actually physically remove memories from your brain and put them in this basin . . ." Cassie couldn't help it. She started laughing but she stopped quickly when she realized that no one else was even smiling.  
  
"You can . . . remove memories?"  
  
"Yes. And then you can view them as you wish by simply looking into the basin."  
  
"But a memory isn't a thing. It's just a collection of neural connections going on traveled paths in the synapses of your brain. You can't just 'remove' a memory."  
  
"And you cannot blink and find yourself in a completely different place. Yet, somehow, you have done that. And I believe that you quite like to fly."  
  
"Well, that's different."  
  
"Not really. But I didn't come to discuss that at the moment." His voice was patient. "Once the memory is removed, it can be viewed by anyone else in the room. Had you been a witch with the memory in your brain of that meeting, I would have simply pulled out my pensieve, removed your memory, and looked at it with you."  
  
"Why didn't we think of that weeks ago?" Harry stood up with an enthusiastic shout.  
  
"Muggles can't use pensieves." Hermione stated matter-of -factly. "They go mad."  
  
"Yes." Dumbledore's smile this time was grim, but resigned. "They do go mad, inevitably. Unless they take a potion that strengthens their mind so that the memories can be removed safely. It's not pleasant, still, but it is safe."  
  
"No!" George stood up and it was not with Harry's enthusiasm. He physically moved between Professor Dumbledore and Cassie. "Absolutely not!"  
  
"The potion takes three weeks to brew, but-" At that, total chaos erupted in the room. Cassie stared around, wondering what everyone was upset about.  
  
"You've known all along that you were going to do this?!" Harry looked the angriest, next to George, who simply looked like the top of his head was going to come off.  
  
"Well, I-"  
  
"You've been riding her this whole time, trying to force her to remember-"  
  
"You sent her down Knockturn Alley!"  
  
"You -"  
  
"Shut up! Everyone!" Cassie stood up on her chair so she could be seen over George, who had pulled out his wand and was starting to brandish it like a sword at everyone else in the room. "If this is what we need to do, then-"  
  
The noise level, which has gone to 0 for a second, suddenly increased to an even louder level than before. Cassie couldn't even tell, now, who was yelling about what. She climbed down from her chair and pushed George aside. He grabbed her arm, but she wrenched it out of his grasp and ran over to the headmaster. "When and where? I want to do this." Suddenly it was dead quiet in the room and every eye was fixed on her.  
  
"I have it arranged for Wednesday morning at 10. I have arranged for reliable witnesses to view the memory. We will meet at Hogwarts. With the students gone, it is peaceful there, and secure." He smiled down at her. "I do not want you to go in uninformed. I am sure Miss Granger can discuss the risks of the potion and I am sure that others will be certain you know of the physical risks. If you change your mind, then that it is understandable. I hope to see you Wednesday morning, Miss Robinson." He smiled faintly, nodded to everyone else in the room, and stood. "I must be getting back to school. Thank you for allowing me into your home again, Arthur, Molly." And then he strode into the kitchen and there was no pop when he disapparated.


	68. Of Potions and Pensieves

Chapter 68  
Of Potions and Pensieves  
  
They all looked at each other with a certain sense of unreality. Had he really come and said that, told them that, and then left? Cassie's gaze met George's and he looked back at her. His eyes narrowed.  
  
"I can't believe you told him you'd do it. Sometimes I wonder if you haven't already gone mad."  
  
"Thanks." Cassie glared back. "I have a day to decide. So I haven't completely gone mental."  
  
"He may have told you that, but you know as well as I do that he's planning on your coming. He knows you." Hermione glanced between the two of them.  
  
"Before you two come to blows, I think we should do a little investigating into exactly what Dumbledore is planning on giving her. He wouldn't ever want to hurt her, and I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt." She looked at Molly and Arthur. "Do you know anything more about this? Have you ever heard of this before?"  
  
Both of them shrugged helplessly. "This is the first we've heard of it." Molly flushed. "And I've always been horrid at potions. But I'm sure I've never heard of that one he mentioned. Arthur, what about you?"  
  
"No. Sorry. But I second Hermione's confidence that Albus would never do anything to hurt Cassie."  
  
"Intentionally." Harry said and every eye turned toward him. "Well, mistakes happen. And he's not a god. He has made them. He's made them with me." There was silence for a minute and he sighed loudly. "Why don't we have Hermione look up the potion and we'll let Cassie decide. We do have about 36 hours. We don't need to make the decision right this second."  
  
Cassie smiled around at the group and wished that Remus and Tonks had been here for dinner rather than out on Order business. She would have welcomed Remus' opinion on this. Well, she could always ask him tomorrow. Tonks's opinion she was a little less sure about, but the Auror had a good heart, so she would also listen to her ideas on whether this was a good idea. But at the moment, she only had her friends' opinions to go on. They had always been good in the past, so she would listen, and then make up her own mind. Everyone knew that there was no use sitting around making small talk. All everyone really wanted to do was talk about the potion and the pensieve.  
  
So, after bidding Molly and Arthur good night, everyone adjourned up to the girls' room, where, while Hermione frantically started searching through her stack of textbooks, the rest of them looked at each other, wondering where to start. They were arranged on the beds basically the same way they had been when they had talked the night the others had arrived from school. The only difference was that this time it was George sitting on Ginny's bed with Cassie, Ginny, and Harry and Fred was sitting next to Ron, who looked steadily at Hermione as though willing her to find what she was looking for and come sit next to him so they could cuddle. George was leaning against the headboard, his long legs spread out in front of him and Cassie was tucked under his arm, leaning against his shoulder. Harry and Ginny were sitting next to each other on the bed, but Harry's nervous energy was keeping them from cuddling, or at least that was Cassie's guess.  
  
"Um, well I guess the first and most obvious question is what's a pensieve and how does it work?" Everyone looked at Hermione now, who was pulling another big stack of textbooks out of her trunk.  
  
"I've never seen one or used one. I only know the theory," she muttered, flipping through a book quickly, clouds of dust rising from the pages as they turned. Harry grunted.  
  
"I've seen one used. I've been in one twice."  
  
"You've been in one?" Cassie shook her head. "I . . . hadn't pictured them as that big."  
  
"They're not. I mean, I've been in one . . . but not physically. They're only about this big." Harry held up his hands to indicate the size of a large dinner plate. "And about this deep." He held one hand against the bed and the other about four inches above it.  
  
"So you've been in one how, exactly?"  
  
"Mentally. You can go into the memories inside them and it's like you're living them. It's hard to explain, but that's what happens. You see . . . whoever's memory it is, but it's like it happening all around you." Cassie looked at George, wondering if he was as confused as she was from Harry's explanation. She was sure it made since to him, but she didn't understand anything he was saying. George looked upset, but it was the same look he had had on his face since Dumbledore had left, so she couldn't really tell.  
  
"Could you start at the beginning, please? And act like I'm about 2 and don't know anything. Use small words." Everyone laughed, but Harry started over.  
  
"Okay, the first time I even saw a pensieve was in Dumbledore's office. It was in a cupboard and it had this shiny, silvery light coming out of it, and I wanted to know what was making that funny light, so I looked in there and there was this bowl, with all these funny carvings on it. It was pretty, but what was really interesting was this liquid, floating around in there. It looked like melted silver, but with a different consistency. I can't really explain it. Anyway, so I looked down into this liquid and I bent closer and closer because it's like you can sort of see shadows moving in there, but not quite. And then my nose touched the liquid and suddenly I was looking down into this big room." Harry told everyone about the Death Eater trials he had seen and how the older Dumbledore had come to take him back out of the pensieve. "I was, of course, really embarrassed. I had been snooping and everything. But he didn't seem to mind, really. And he explained what a pensieve was and how he used them to kind of see things differently."  
  
"So the liquid floating around in the bowl was memories?"  
  
"Yeah. Or thoughts. I think more like thoughts, in that case. Because he said he can remove his thoughts if he gets too many of them or they become too intense. And then he showed me how he took his thoughts out of his head. That was strange. Let me tell you. If you do decide to do this, close your eyes."  
  
"What is it like?" Cassie gripped George's hand tightly. "Because a memory, or a thought, so to speak, doesn't have any real substance. You do know that, right?" No one answered her except Harry.  
  
"It looked like a silvery hair, almost. In fact, at first I thought it was one of Dumbledore's hairs stuck on the end of his wand. But then he put it in the bowl with the others."  
  
"Does it hurt to take one out?"  
  
"Uh, I don't know. Dumbledore didn't wince or anything."  
  
"Yeah, but that was Dumbledore." Fred and George said together and Ginny smiled and the mood in the room lightened considerably.  
  
"But . . ." Harry stared at the wall for a long minute, "I think you can actually completely remove memories, too. So they're not in your brain at all anymore. Snape tried to hide a memory from me, well, probably more than one, really, although I only know of one. It didn't work . . . which shouldn't really surprise me, because nothing between he and I has ever worked. And, of course . . ."  
  
"Harry." Ginny's voice was gentle. "You're rambling."  
  
"Oh, sorry." Harry bit his lip. "When he was teaching me Occlumency. He was afraid I would see into his brain, see things that would embarrass him. It had already happened once, you see, and I saw one of his childhood memories and he was mad, really mad." Harry seemed to notice that he was rambling again. "Sorry. Anyway, so he tried to take memories out and I found the pensieve and I went inside it, and saw my dad, and Sirius, and Remus and Peter and they were all tormenting him. It was . . . pretty bad. I saw my mum, too. She hated my dad, at first. He was a bit of a prat when he was younger. " Harry's voice died and everyone was staring at him.  
  
"You went into one of Snape's memories?" Ron asked incredulously. "No wonder he hates you."  
  
"He always hated me. I remind him too much of my dad."  
  
"Would that be when he stopped teaching you occlumency for good then, Harry?" Hermione asked, rather archly, as she started flipping through yet another thick book. "'Cause I'm not sure I'd blame him."  
  
"Thanks, Hermione. Yes, to answer your question." He looked around at the people on the beds. "Those were the two times I was in one. It's odd. You can walk around, leave the person whose memory it is, and see what's around them." He took Ginny's hand. "I saw a pensieve used one more time. It was different, though. This time I didn't go inside. I'm pretty sure this last way of using it is the way Dumbledore wants to use it with you, Cassie." Harry took a deep breath. "He used it to show me the prophecy." George and Fred nodded.  
  
"What prophecy?" Ron asked, looked between Harry and the twins in confusion.  
  
"The prophecy that got smashed," Harry explained. Cassie already knew about the prophecy, and it was obvious George and Fred did, probably because of their being old enough to be in the Order. Ginny patted Harry's hand in a comforting way that told Cassie he had already told her some of it, if not all. "That ball that got smashed that night was just a record of a prophecy. But someone made the prophecy, and someone heard it. And the person that heard it was Dumbledore himself. So, he showed me the prophecy again." Harry explained briefly about the prophecy, but that was not the point of this discussion, so he promised to talk more to Ron and Hermione about it later and moved on to Dumbledore's using the pensieve to show him what had happened. "I suppose that he may actually want to go into your memory, walk into the room, look around and see what happened in a way that you couldn't."  
  
"Could he do that?"  
  
"To the best of my understanding, yes. I know that I heard conversations between my dad, Sirius, and Remus that Snape never heard when I was in his memory. That's what I was trying to tell you. It's not just a record of his memory. It's like it transports you into that time for a while and you can see and hear everything, not just a narrow bit of it." Cassie scowled.  
  
"That is some completely impossible. I mean, even if I were to accept all of this, which I'm not saying I do, but what you are saying now . . . It just couldn't happen. If there was never a record of those things . . . then how could you or anyone else ever see it years later?"  
  
"I don't know. I . . . never understood that part about the pensieve. The only think I can think of is that maybe . . . maybe the subconscious sees more than the aware mind knows, so maybe it's all there on some level or another." Hermione spoke up.  
  
"That makes sense. 'Cause Cassie's completely right, of course."  
  
"Anyway, he may want to do that. But, he said something about witnesses, so I think it's probably more like he'll pull your memory out and let everyone look at it. Sort of like a 3-D movie. Or at least that's how it looked to me." Cassie shuddered and leaned back against George.  
  
"Well, all of this sounds pretty interesting. But why does it make Muggles mad to have this done? If it doesn't hurt and you're just seeing your own memories . . . why would that drive you insane?" No one could really answer her. They all looked back at Hermione, who was skimming frantically down a page, flipping to the next one, and then skimming quickly down it.  
  
"I found it! It's here." She looked over the page again. "This is an incredibly complex potion. The trickiest one I've ever seen." Cassie saw Ron and Harry exchange a look of amusement at that, but didn't understand it.  
  
"I can't believe it. That took forever. But here it is." She stood up, dusted off her clothes, and carried the book over to the little group. "Recordatiunio potion. That means 'memory protector.' It's got an interesting history. It was originally designed to help wizards who wanted to-"  
  
"Hermione. Just cut to the chase."  
  
"All right. It's used now primarily to help Muggles, but . . . not for using pensieves. It's sort of more of a fix-it solution if they go nuts after having their memories modified."  
  
"Are you serious?"  
  
"Yeah. Some have to have quite a bit modified, you know, and, uh, according to this, occasionally one will have a problem with it and not really get back in touch with reality. This can help them protect their remaining memories."  
  
"That doesn't really sound like Cassie's situation."  
  
"Maybe he changed it or something."  
  
Harry snorted. "Or maybe it was the closest he could find."  
  
"That gives me a lot of confidence."  
  
"I'm just saying. . . ."  
  
"Dumbledore mentioned some sort of physical side effects. Does it mention those in the book?"  
  
Hermione flipped over the page and read quickly through it. Cassie could see her eyes darting back and forth over the words. "Okay, it says here that it makes almost everyone who takes it really nauseated. But that's probably just because of the ingredients. And I guess that passes pretty quickly. Well, after you actually puke. Then you get a really bad headache. I guess that's the worst thing. It says here that can last for a day or so. But, other than that . . .uh, yeah. That's it."  
  
Cassie glanced at the Head Girl, who shut the book promptly and stood up, carried it over to her trunk, and put it inside. "Hermione . . . what else? I want to know."  
  
"It, uh, well, it's nothing, really."  
  
"Hermione."  
  
"Okay. It also can be a hallucinogen." Cassie's eyebrows raised.  
  
"You mean, I could get high from it?"  
  
"That's not likely. It's really rare." George shook his head.  
  
"Another good reason why you shouldn't do this."  
  
"Thanks, George. I'll certainly consider your opinion." Cassie tightened her hand in his and sighed as she leaned back again against his shoulder. Why did everything always have to be so complicated?  
  
They talked for about another 30 minutes, but they never really came to any grand epiphanies. Cassie still wasn't sure what to do. George still thought that she shouldn't do it. Hermione thought she should. Harry just scowled at everyone and Cassie couldn't really tell what his opinion was. In bed that night after the boys had left, Cassie tossed and turned, trying to decide what to do. By the time she had fallen into a restless sleep, she decided that she would consider all the options the next day before making up her mind. Maybe a pro or con list. That had always worked for her in the past when she had to make a difficult decision.  
  
Despite Cassie's gloomy mood, the next morning dawned bright and sunny and as she sat down to breakfast, Molly even surprised her by opening one of the windows to let in the fresh air. It was cold out, but not so cold that it chilled the air in the overheated room. Cassie sat down at the table and was surprised when Charlie sat down next to her. "Sorry I missed the excitement last night. Mum tells me that Dumbledore dropped a rather big bombshell on you."  
  
"Yeah. I . . . I can't make up my mind whether to do that or not. Do you know anything about Muggles and pensieves and things like that?" Charlie shook his head.  
  
"I have heard of the potion. I've actually used it a few times. It's one of the hazards working with dragons. When Muggles see them, they're a bit hard to explain away. So . . ."  
  
"What are dragons really like?" Cassie wanted to change the subject because she didn't want to think about Charlie modifying memories and making innocent Romanians insane. She liked Charlie. He obliged her by starting to talk about his work with the dragons, telling a few funny anecdotes to keep her mind off her troubles. Cassie was just finishing her pancake when Harry walked into the room and stopped in the doorway, looking around at the assembled group with a rather bemused expression on his face.  
  
Charlie noticed and broke off his story to watch the dark-haired boy settle into the seat next to Ginny. "What's up, Harry?"  
  
"I just had a total . . .deja vu, I guess."  
  
"What do you mean, Harry?" asked Ron. Or at least that's what Cassie thought he said. It was sort of hard to understand around his mouthful of pancake.  
  
"I had a dream about this. Before. When I was in London last summer."  
  
"You dreamed about eating breakfast in the Burrow?" asked Ginny, smiling as she handed him the plate of bacon.  
  
"No. I dreamed this scene. Just like this. With everyone sitting in this position. And the sun. And then Hedwig . . ." Just then, his white owl flew in through the window and Harry laughed. "And I thought how ridiculous that dream was because Cassie would never be here at the Burrow. I'd forgotten about it completely until just now."  
  
"That's spooky," said Ron (Cassie was pretty sure this time).  
  
"Deja vu never actually happens, you know?" Hermione volunteered. "It's a trick your mind plays on you. You said you had a dream?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well, then that's Trelawney's cup of tea, Divination and all that hooey. Not deja vu."  
  
"Whatever you call it. I did have a dream. Like this." Cassie smiled at Harry.  
  
"You never told me about it." Cassie was sure she would have remembered if he had.  
  
"No. I . . . couldn't very well, could I? I can't imagine how I would have told you about dreaming of you sitting with the Weasleys at their house and my pet owl and everything."  
  
"I would have listened." Harry grinned.  
  
"Right. Well, I didn't know that at the time, did I?" Everyone laughed at Cassie's smirk and turned back to their breakfast. The twins left for work on time, and Remus stumbled down to breakfast a few minutes later.  
  
Cassie waited politely for him to finish eating and then they both waited for Tonks who had come down right before Cassie was ready to start telling him the story. Both the older wizard and witch listened with fascination to Cassie's story about Dumbledore's visit the night before. Both of them looked at Cassie when she was done with concerned expressions.  
  
"So, what are you going to do?" Remus asked.  
  
"I don't know. Having this over seems like something I've wanted for so long that I would do anything to get there. But I don't want to go insane, either. I mean, what would be the point of that? Then, everyone else's problems would be over and mine would just be beginning." Tonks laughed and Remus shot her a look. Tonks just shrugged.  
  
"She's right, Remus. You can't argue with her logic."  
  
"I wasn't going to. I just really don't think she's going to go mad. Dumbledore wouldn't even suggest it if it were a possibility. I will tell you, though, Cassie, that the situation is getting fairly desperate. If we could arrest the wizards you saw that night, it might not matter if we had all of them or not. But, we can't, not without some evidence. And so far, the only evidence we have is your word that they were there. And you can believe me when I tell you that's nothing."  
  
"Yeah. I know. But how would seeing my memory fix that?"  
  
"I don't know. We would have the whole list, but where that would get us, I couldn't really say."  
"You won't be offended if I tell you this conversation has been less than enlightening?" Remus and Tonks both shook their heads. "I still have about 24 hours. I just hope something comes along that makes my decision easier, either yeah or nay."  
  
As it happened, Cassie got her wish. And as is so often the case, she really regretted uttering those words. Because at 1 p.m., the first piece of news from the outside world arrived that made her decision much easier. "George! What are you doing here?" Molly's cry from the kitchen made Cassie, who had been reading Hogwarts: A History in the living room jump up and run for the connecting door.  
  
When he saw Cassie, he put out his arm and she grabbed his hand. This could not be good. "It's Andrew. He just came by the shop."  
  
"He what!" both Molly and Cassie yelled simultaneously.  
  
"Yeah. That's right. He actually came to Diagon Alley and got Tom to open the wall and he walked down to our store. He's in trouble. Big trouble." Cassie didn't say anything then, just stared with panicked expression at her boyfriend. "Apparently, Blackman's been trying to find Cassie, really trying. Went to Switzerland and everything, tracked down the school. Her name was on the records, like Dumbledore had arranged it, but when it came to actually matching a student with the name, of course there wasn't one. So, he accused Andrew of fabricating the whole story and demanding to know where Cassie was. He stuck with the story, said that the people there must be confused. It is the Christmas holidays and all and once the students all get back from vacation, it can all be sorted out, but he doesn't think Blackman is buying it." Cassie gripped George's hand so tightly that he gasped and pulled on it. "Sorry, sweetheart. You're hurting me."  
  
"Where is he now? Is he still at the store?"  
  
"No. He went back to work."  
  
"Tell me you're kidding!"  
  
"No. We tried to convince him to stay until we could get some help, but he refused. He said he had already stayed too long at lunch!" Fred and I didn't know what else to do. We couldn't get all the way to Dumbledore. So, I came here. I hoped Dad would know . . ."  
  
"Of course, of course. That's the best thing. I'll talk to him right now."  
  
"What about my mum and brothers?"  
  
"He didn't think they were in danger at the moment, although he is worried about later." Molly ran up the steps, yelling for Arthur. "Are you going to be okay?"  
  
"I'm fine. I'm worried about my family."  
  
"I understand. The Order will take care of them. So you don't need to worry." His hand cupped her cheek and she leaned against it.  
  
"I wish I had your confidence." Cassie clung to his hand. "You don't have to go back to work, do you?"  
  
"Yes. I better. I can't leave Fred there alone."  
  
"But-" Cassie took a deep breath. "You're right." George pulled her close, kissed her gently, and disapparated. A moment later Arthur ran down the stairs and disapparated also.  
  
The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur for Cassie. Order members came in and out of the house, always popping in, talking rapidly to someone, and popping back out. Ginny and Hermione tried valiantly to keep her distracted and Cassie tried valiantly to pretend it was working. Harry and Ron were helping the Order as best they could. Harry couldn't leave the house, though, and Ron was sort of unofficially assigned to protect him so their duties did not actually involve them going anywhere. When dinnertime finally arrived and Cassie realized that her dad was probably home from work now and safe from Blackman, she felt much better. However, it was only a few minutes after that that a new worry hit her. George and Fred weren't home yet which meant they were late. Molly was unconcerned, more worried about Arthur and Remus, who were out and about despite the arrest warrants still floating around with their names on them. But Cassie just had a feeling in her gut that something was wrong.  
  
It was almost 6 before the twins finally appeared in the kitchen and Cassie wasn't sure who shrieked louder between her and Molly. Cassie was momentarily flummoxed. She couldn't even tell which twin was George - the first time in months she hadn't been able to instantly determine his identity. They were both covered from head to toe is smoke, ash, and blood. So much blood! Cassie was tempted to faint. If either of them had bled that much, they might be dead. And since neither of them had yet made a sound, it seemed like a definite possibility.  
  
"It's okay, Cassie. We're both all right." That was George! And she grabbed his hand. He groaned. "It's burned. Be careful, love!"  
  
"What happened to the two of you?" Molly asked five minutes later, as she sponged soot and blood off Fred's face while Cassie took care of his brother.  
  
"Death Eaters. Came into the shop, right at closing time. Didn't seem to want to buy anything, though." George chuckled, then gasped. "Oooh. I might have a broken rib. That smarts."  
  
Fred groaned. "Is that all you've got? I'm sure my leg is broken and probably my hand." Cassie had to agree with his assessment but didn't answer him. She was more anxious to find out what had happened in the shop. She was almost positive it had something to do with her dad's visit earlier. "Well, they did seem to want to take something home, but it wasn't a Weasley Wizard Wheeze. It was the Weasleys themselves."  
  
"Stop talking riddles, boys. What do you mean?" Molly scowled, maybe cleaning Fred's likely broken hand a bit harder than necessary.  
  
"They wanted us to come with them. And it wasn't for a fun afternoon in the park." Molly grunted. "They wanted to hold us hostage. Get it? Us, for her."  
  
"You mean they know she's here?" Molly stopped wiping at all and just grabbed Fred's arm hard. He groaned.  
  
"No. I don't think so. Not specifically. Just that the Order has her and that you're in the Order. One of them also mentioned that if the Order didn't have her, they certainly have Harry Potter somewhere."  
  
"I don't know, Fred. It seems to me that they were wanting to trade the two of us for just one other person. Does that mean we're each only worth a half a person each?"  
  
"Maybe, George. Maybe. Oh, honestly, Mum! Let Cassie clean me up! At least she's not killing George!" Fred scowled at his mother.  
  
"Fine, fine. I'll get the Skele-gro. You're going to both need it! But you haven't told us how you got away from them."  
  
"Fireworks. Lots of fireworks!" That explained quite nicely the soot and black smoke that covered them so completely. "We set off almost all of them in the store. They were insane in that close of a place. They couldn't even come near us! It was like a wall of fire between us and them."  
  
"And one set would just finish and they'd think they were done, and another would light."  
  
"But why didn't you just leave then? Why were you hanging around the store?" Molly picked up a black and white bottle with a big skeleton on it from a kitchen shelf.  
  
"We couldn't leave the day's take in the till! It was thousands of Galleons! So we took turns distracting them and cleaning out the drawer. Then we left."  
  
"Oh, for Merlin's sake! You're both mental." As though in revenge, she doled out several spoonfuls of what must have been foul medicine because both boys sputtered and gagged as she forced it down their throats.  
  
"That doesn't explain the blood, though," Cassie commented as she finished wiping George's left arm which was almost dripping with the stuff.  
  
"It's not ours. None of it, I don't think. We used a few banishing charms on our Skiving Snackboxes, the nosebleed nougats made great little weapons. The idiots would be standing there with their mouths open, amazed at our fireworks. One Skiving Snackbox banished down their throat. Five seconds later, they're gushing blood. They can't figure out how it started or how to stop it! They panic! It's great! I think two of them actually passed out from blood loss, it's mostly theirs on us. And for all we know, they might be dead by now." Cassie couldn't dredge up any sympathy in her heart for the two wizards laying on the floor of George and Fred's shop bleeding to death. Actually, she thought it was quite a fitting end to a Death Eater. She wondered if they were anyone she knew.  
  
A half hour later, Arthur and Remus had returned back from doing whatever it was they were doing, the boys had showered and changed and they were sitting down to the second round of dinner as everyone else had eaten before the twins even got home. George had barely put his first forkful of food into his mouth, when a sudden bright green light flooded the kitchen fireplace. "What was that?!" asked Fred, dropping his fork and shoving away from the table.  
  
"It's the Robinsons. They need help." Arthur stood while Cassie just stared in shock. No, not twice in one day - three times, actually, that her loved ones had been attacked. This just could not be happening. "Let's go, boys. Remus."  
  
"Take Ron and Charlie and Bill!"  
  
"All right, fine! Whatever! Let's go!" It seemed ages before the wizards disapparated. Tonks had gone in the end as well which added another minute or so to the departure time. After all the disapparations were done, Cassie felt her legs getting weak beneath her. She had to sit down. She reached for one of the kitchen chairs and felt herself falling. When she opened her eyes a few seconds later to look into the worried faces of Molly, Ginny, Harry, and Hermione, she struggled to sit up.  
  
"This has to end. I can't live like this anymore. I'm going in the morning. I'm going to do that pensieve thing and I don't any of you to argue with me!" She didn't know whether they had all come to the same conclusion or whether they just realized that there was no use trying to argue, because there was universal silence.  
  
"Cassie. You're undoubtedly right. It's time for this to be over." Cassie's mind was made up and she paced back and forth on the main floor of the burrow, framing all the arguments in her mind that she was going to use on George over and over again. It was over an hour later before the pops from the kitchen announced the arrival of a large group of wizards. Cassie ran in and was relieved to see everyone standing there, looking tired but well. She wasn't sure whether she was happy or unhappy to see that her parents were not with them.  
  
"What was going on?"  
  
"A committee of sorts showed up at your parents' house earlier this evening. I suspect they were Death Eaters, but we don't know for certain. They were dressed like Muggles but they certainly were not." Arthur sighed and sat down at the table. Molly had set warming spells on the food and those who had been trying to eat dug wearily back into their meal while Molly offered seconds to the others.  
  
"They at first just tried to talk to Andrew and Rebecca, asked questions about Cassie and where she was. But when they wouldn't come up with answers that suited them, they got a bit nasty. They finally wound up stunning all four of them and searching Cassie's room for evidence. They found some letters we had planted earlier, some various things which made it really look like you had been in Switzerland studying."  
  
"But they didn't fall for it?" Arthur looked at Cassie and smiled grimly.  
  
"They may have . . . if they hadn't found pictures in your dresser drawer of you and Harry on a broom." Cassie's eyes widened as she realized what had happened.  
  
"I-"  
  
"That made them realize with a sudden jolt, I am sure, that you're a witch. Well, they think you're a witch." Cassie buried her face in her hands. "They were in the process of questioning your father a bit more about your whereabouts when we arrived. Unfortunately, they all got away. Your parents provided pretty good descriptions, but there's not much we can do about it. They took the pictures with them, so basically your cover is blown, I'm afraid."  
  
"What about my parents? Did you just leave them there?"  
  
"Oh, no. Not at all." Arthur tried to smile, but Cassie saw that it didn't reach his eyes. "We've moved them to a more secure location for the moment. That's what took so long. We had to get them settled in."  
  
"Where are they?"  
  
Arthur flushed a dull red. "Um, well. We'd rather you not know, actually." Cassie stared at her parents' friend in shock.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, what you don't know can't be . . .accidentally revealed." Arthur looked down at his empty plate and looked vaguely surprised to see that the food was gone. He shook his head and then continued. "It's not that we don't trust you . . . it's just that people make mistakes, say things they don't mean to. Especially as tomorrow you may find yourself under the influence of a very powerful potion, with your memories removed and everything."  
  
"There's no may to worry about. I'm doing it." George shook his head but Cassie ignored him. "I want this over with. I want my life to go back to normal. I want this done. There's just too much danger in not knowing who these wizards are and what they want. I trust Dumbledore. If he says I can use that pensieve, then I believe I can use it and it will be useful. So, tomorrow morning, I'll go to Hogwarts, I'll take the potion, and I'll let Dumbledore do whatever he wants to do with my memory of that night. And that's the end of the discussion." She lifted her chin and looked around at the assembled group. George just sighed and tightened his grip on her hand.  
  
"I knew you would, Cassie. I knew it before he even told you that you had a day or so to think about it. And now I think you're right. It's time for this to end."


	69. The Pensieve

Chapter 69  
The Pensieve  
  
Cassie stood up from the table and shook her head. "I don't understand this. I don't understand it at all. Why my parents?"  
  
"What do you mean? They don't want you to know where they are. That's all." Molly was gathering the now-empty plates and set them in the dishwasher. Arthur muttered something about being worn out that the two of them retreated upstairs. Cassie said good night to them and also to Remus and Tonks, who both claimed exhaustion and retreated up the stairs as well. When it was just the seven of them again, Cassie whirled to George.  
  
"No! I mean, how did they know that my parents were my parents?"  
  
"Uh- Blackman found out, remember. He was suspicious from the beginning."  
  
"I know. But let's think about this for a minute. I need a sheet of parchment and a quill! I think better when I can write things down!" She looked around frantically but couldn't see anything she could write on. "I need something to write on, please, George!"  
  
"Okay, um. I think up in my room I have something." Before he could even move toward the stairs, though, Hermione thrust a piece of parchment and a quill into her hands. Cassie grinned but then sat down again at the kitchen table and started scribbling. She drew three columns and labeled them "What we know," "what they think," "what they know." She started writing down thoughts as fast as she could, her writing very sloppy after almost three weeks' hiatus from having to use a quill. But when the list was done, she read it over, her brows furrowed.  
  
George was sitting there, trying to be supportive, but Cassie could tell he had no idea what she was doing. "Okay- Imagine you're Blackman."  
  
"Do I have to?" At her look, he sighed. "Okay, I'm Blackman. Now what?"  
  
"You're a wizard and you have this Muggle employee who is a good worker, but he never causes problems. He just does his thing, very well."  
  
"Yeah. All right."  
  
"So, you think you see his daughter, once, just a brief glimpse, somewhere she shouldn't be. You ask about it. He gives you a plausible story about her being in Switzerland at school. You don't hear another thing about her. Oh, you're still curious, but you never see her or her picture or anything. A whole month passes without any confirmation that she even exists, much less what she looks like or that that was her in the first place."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"All of a sudden, out of the blue, you become convinced enough that this girl who you're looking for is the employee's daughter - you understand, convinced enough - that you risk having wizards break into his house to look for evidence! What changed?"  
  
George shook his head. "I'm sorry. I still don't follow."  
  
"What makes you so sure that this daughter is the girl you want?"  
  
"Your dad said that he checked at the school you were supposed to go to-"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I'm nervous. I'm still looking for this girl and-"  
  
"That's exactly it! Why look at this employee!! It makes no sense. Not unless-" She stood and started pacing. George didn't interrupt her. "You would have to be sure. Something else pointed you in his direction. Something that made it almost a sure bet. Something that made it worth the risk! But what could it have been? What changed between last week and this week?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Someone told you something. Someone knew something. Someone-" She took a very deep breath. "Someone betrayed me."  
  
George stood up. "No. No. There's no reason to think that!"  
  
"So, it's just a coincidence then? Is that what you think?"  
  
"Maybe he was just not finding anything else and . . . ." His voice trailed off and he sat back down. "No one knows about you."  
  
"Are you kidding? There are many, many people who know about me!" Cassie could feel the panic almost choking her now. She had been betrayed, but she had no idea who it could have been. All she knew was that now her parents' and brothers' lives were threatened, and so was hers.  
  
"But we've been really careful, Cassie."  
  
"Not careful enough!" She started pacing again. "Someone told them. It could have been anyone. Professor Snape - he hates me! And then there's Angelina and"  
  
"Hey!" Fred spoke up for the first time. "She wouldn't do that!"  
  
"Sorry. But that's my point. We're sure no one would have, but someone did." She took George's hand. "I have to leave. My cover's been destroyed. I'm endangering all of you by being here."  
  
"Cassie, that's ridiculous."  
  
"It is not! They have to know who I am now! Especially now that they've seen the pictures. And they probably know where I'm staying. It only makes sense, really." She groaned and paced with more panicked energy. "Maybe Draco's even seen the stupid things now and he would certainly recognize me - blonde hair or not! And I bet they know about you -- and me! That's probably why they came to the store today! They thought I might be there! Oh, God! They wanted to take you so that they could get me! It's suddenly obvious to me! The game has been played. We've lost!" She could feel her voice getting shrill in her panic. George stood up and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her slightly until she looked at him.  
  
"Cassie! Calm down! You're getting hysterical! Even if the entire world knew you were the right girl and knew you were here at the Burrow, they could not get you!"  
  
"How do you know?" She wanted to believe him, she really did, but she didn't know how.  
  
"That fact that my mum, my dad, and Harry are still here should be proof enough. If it was just a matter of walking up to the front door and knocking, don't you think the Aurors would have done that a long time ago? It's warded, Cassie. And I don't even understand how heavily. But I do know it is really strong. Strong enough to keep out the entire Ministry, the Aurors, and even You-Know-Who."  
  
"I-"  
  
"You're safe here. As safe as anywhere else in the entire world that you could be right now."  
  
"But-"  
  
"And that's what I'm saying. Tomorrow you are going to go and take that potion and let them pull out that blasted cursed memory and get this entire bloody mess over with. Then you will really be safe and you can go home and go on with your regular life!" George's voice was now almost as hysterical as Cassie's had been and she stared in at him.  
  
"Oh, I-" She wanted to say that she really didn't want to do that. She didn't really want to go back to her life the way it had been before, that she wanted to be with him. That she wanted to stay here always; but the words froze in her mouth. Suddenly, a shaft of homesickness shot through her with such ferocious force that she was momentarily breathless. "Do you really think that will be enough." George sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.  
  
"I don't know. On one hand, Dumbledore says that if he just knew who they were, it would take care of it, but on the other hand, he knows six of them and not one of them has been arrested."  
  
"He needs evidence. Not just someone's word for it that they were there. That's why." Hermione was biting her lip, thinking hard.  
  
"But what good is seeing this memory going to do? It will still just be her word for it. They'll know the other two, but otherwise, they'll still be in the same situation." Harry looked at Hermione for an answer to his question.  
  
"I don't know. I really don't. But I . . . Well, Dumbledore may not be perfect, Harry, but he is smart. And he does know what he's doing. So if he says that it will help, it must be able to help."  
  
Cassie sighed. "I wish I was as confident. What if it doesn't help at all?"  
  
"There's no use worrying about that tonight. Maybe Dumbledore will tell you in the morning." Ginny shrugged and approached Cassie, slipping her arm around her shoulders and handing her a cup of hot cocoa. Cassie smiled and drank it happily. Her throat was a little sore from the yelling. The others all had some, too, and Cassie smiled at the now-familiar routine of Ginny getting them all ready for bed with something warm and soothing.  
  
After a few minutes where they all sat drinking their cocoa and thinking, Ron spoke. "He said he had witnesses. Maybe they'll accept the memory as evidence or something." He shrugged. "Otherwise, why bother to have them? He was all worried about the memory staying pure and stuff, remember? So, maybe if they know the memory hasn't been tampered with - it'll at least be enough to have them questioned."  
  
"That makes sense, I guess." Cassie suddenly felt exhausted. It had been an extremely long and stressful day and she was pretty positive that she wouldn't be able to sleep no matter what, worrying about tomorrow. "I guess I really should go up to bed." She looked up the stairs. They suddenly looked very steep and she wasn't sure her legs would support her the whole way.  
  
"Stay down here with me for a bit. I'll see that you get to bed soon." George took her hand and pulled her away from Ginny. Ginny scowled.  
  
"I want her to come upstairs and go to bed."  
  
"She will. Just not right now. In a minute." Cassie didn't protest as George led her into the living room, sat down on one of the chairs, and pulled her into his lap. She rested her cheek against his chest, feeling his heartbeat strong and steady under her ear. She stared at the fire burning and crackling in the grate and tried to relax. His arms were strong around her waist and she felt her breathing becoming deeper and slower as he murmured calming nonsense words to her. Ginny poked her head out of the kitchen door a few minutes later.  
  
"I mean it, George. She needs her rest. Who knows what that potion will do to her?" Cassie wanted to protest but the leaden weight of her limbs prevented her from moving. George's chin was resting on the top of her head and she was so comfortable that she decided it wasn't worth the effort. George grunted some reply and the door to the kitchen shut again.  
  
"She's a bit of a mother hen to you." His voice was calm, only slightly amused.  
  
"Sometimes." She said. "Other times, I'm a mother hen to her."  
  
"She likes you a lot. She told me you're like a sister to her." Cassie didn't answer. She wasn't really sure what to say and she wasn't sure she had the energy to get into a long discussion. "Your parents were incredible tonight, Cassie. I - I thought they might be angry or hysterical, but they were calm. Your dad set off the alarm, did Dad tell you that?"  
  
"No." Her voice was quiet and sleepy to her ears and Cassie wondered vaguely if Ginny had drugged the cocoa she had given her.  
  
"Yeah. My dad had hooked up the fireplace for Floo calls even though they can't really use it or anything. He thought it might come in handy. So he gave them this canister of powder to throw in if they were ever in danger and couldn't portkey out."  
  
"Oh." One syllable answers seemed to be all she was capable of at the moment, but George didn't seem upset about her lack of sparkling conversation  
  
"So your dad was tied up, I guess, and managed to get the canister out of his pocket and pass it to your mum who passed it to your brother and then the other one. All this while wizards were in the other room and could have come in at any minute. My dad said your family all seems to be cool under pressure. Anyway, your brother Matthew is the one who threw it into the fire."  
  
"Oh. I hope it made a big noise. He likes big noises." She could feel herself drifting off and was almost certain now that Ginny had given her something to make her sleepy.  
  
"It did, unfortunately, because he didn't get it in far enough. They threatened him if he didn't say what he had thrown in but he didn't say. They were threatening your dad, too, but he didn't give you up, either. Then we got there and rescued them."  
  
"You're brave." George laughed softly and Cassie smiled at the way it rumbled through his chest. He was stroking her arm gently with his hand and her eyes drifted shut.  
  
"There's all sorts of bravery, Cassie. You're one of the bravest people I know." Cassie wanted to protest but she couldn't get her mouth to move and then suddenly it didn't matter anymore because the velvety blackness pressed down on her and she knew nothing more.  
  
Cassie stretched and opened her eyes, then closed them again suddenly as the morning sun intruded on their sensitive pupils. "Ugh!" She tried again, cracking them open and glancing at the clock through one half-lidded eye. "It's eight! I've got to get up!" She sat up and blinked, several things coming to her in a succession of realizations. First of all, she felt rested and refreshed, more so than she had in a long while. That potion Ginny slipped her must have really been good stuff. Then, she realized she was alone in the room, the other girls obviously having woken up probably more than an hour ago. As she stood up to go to the loo which she needed to with a desperation that was really making itself known, she realized she was still fully dressed other than her shoes being removed. She sat back down on the bed. She remembered falling asleep on George's lap (how embarrassing) and he must have carried her up the stairs. She wondered why Ginny or Hermione hadn't helped her, but decided it didn't matter now. She had to get dressed for the day. She knew the whole pensieve thing was supposed to happen at 10 but thought that they may need to leave early or something.  
  
She stepped out into the hall in her stocking feet and padded to the bathroom. Fortunately, it was empty and she hurried into the shower and got herself ready. She was just starting to braid her hair to get it out of her face when there was a knock at the door. Ginny was smiling at her when she opened it. "I thought I'd do your hair this morning if you wanted me to."  
  
"You didn't have to drug me like a stubborn child last night. I would have taken it willingly," Cassie challenged as she quickly undid the half-done braid.  
  
"Maybe. Sorry. We were worried about you."  
  
"Did George know?"  
  
"No. He wasn't too happy with me this morning. He wanted to talk to you. He was pretty unhappy when I told him that I had done it." Cassie could see her own eyes, wide in the mirror as she looked through it at Ginny who was blowing a warm stream of air over her hair now.  
  
"Why did he . . . I mean, can't we talk tonight?" Cassie had a sudden fear that George was convinced this potion wouldn't work and she would go mad and he'd never be able to speak to her again.  
  
"If you're here."  
  
"What? Why wouldn't I be here?"  
  
"Calm down. I'm not trying to imply you'll be at St. Mungo's or anything. I'm just saying."  
  
"Saying what, though?" Cassie was genuinely confused and wanted to shake her head to clear out the cobwebs so she could understand what Ginny was trying to ay to her, because she certainly wasn't getting anywhere quickly otherwise.  
  
Ginny looked mildly put out but then she smiled. "You might go home today. I mean, if everybody gets identified and caught and everything, maybe this will all be over and you can go back home." Cassie stared at her friend through the mirror. Her first thought was a rather foul swear word.  
  
"I'd never even thought of that."  
  
"Well, it could happen." Cassie stared at herself in the mirror and wondered why the thought of being home tonight, safe, with her parents and everything didn't fill her with more joy.  
  
"But tonight is New Year's Eve."  
  
"Yeah, I know. We're going to have a bit of a celebration here. Even though I'm not sure what the coming year will hold." Ginny's eyes looked faintly shadowed and Cassie knew better than to think the worry was for her. It was for Harry.  
  
"Okay." Cassie wasn't really sure what to say. She suspected that even if everything went brilliantly today she would not be going back home so soon. The wheels of justice didn't move that quickly, even if they were moving for wizards. However, she also realized that it was possible she would be sleeping or maybe even have such a bad headache that she wouldn't even be able to come down and join the family even if she was still here. "That sounds fun. What do wizards do on New Years' Eve, anyway?"  
  
"They hurry out of the bathroom so that others can use it! Hurry up!" Cassie and Ginny smiled at each other. Tonks sounded rather desperate.  
  
"Interesting tradition, that! I'll have to remember it!" Cassie called back through the door, and laughingly the two girls went back to their room to finish her hair. When they went downstairs a few minutes later, Molly started fussing over Cassie which she knew to be a sign that she was worried about her. She wanted to reassure her but couldn't really, so she settled for smiling and allowing herself to be fed, watered, and fussed over, which seemed to make Molly very happy. George was sitting across the table staring at her and Cassie kept trying to elicit a smile but he seemed so tense that none were forthcoming.  
  
"Stop staring at me, George! You're making me wonder if you think I'm going to die." He just shook his head in response.  
  
"I really wish you didn't have to do this."  
  
"But I do. So, don't make it harder, okay?"  
  
He just went back to staring and after a bit Cassie gave up trying to talk to him and just ate. "What time are we going?" She finally got brave enough to ask.  
  
"Soon." His one word answer was enough to send her stomach into new spasms of back flips and she noticed her hand was trembling as she drank the last of her pumpkin juice.  
  
The portkey they were using this time was a very odd looking little kitchen gadget and Cassie was so interested in looking at it that she missed the countdown and landed hard and on her butt as usual in Professor Dumbledore's office. George, Arthur, and Remus looked down at her and smiled and she felt like a big idiot. "I'm never going to get the hang of traveling that way. Sorry." George helped her off the floor. His hands were slightly sweaty and Cassie gulped. She wanted to be brave, she really did. But since everyone (particularly George) was treating her like these were her last few moments on earth, it was hard to be very optimistic about the outcome of this entire experience. Professor Dumbledore came in only a second later and Cassie started. She hadn't heard his approach. "Hello, Professor."  
  
"Hello, Miss Robinson." He smiled around at the other three men. "I appreciate your coming today." Cassie glanced around the office, which looked very similar to how it always looked except that all the painting frames were empty.  
  
"Where are all your paintings?"  
  
"Away."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"The short answer, my dear, is that I am still in hiding. No one is to know I am here and if there is one thing those paintings are good at, it's gossip. So, they haven't been here for quite some time. I miss them, a bit. Don't ever tell them I said that. If you do, I'll never hear the end of it. Now, why don't you sit down. We have about an hour before the others arrive and I really want to talk to you a bit before then." His smile was calm.  
  
"All right." Cassie sat and felt like giggling nervously. She bit her lip instead and stared down at her hands. George sat down next to her and she felt somewhat reassured when he took her hand, although it was still sweaty. Or maybe that was hers.  
  
"I trust Harry was able to tell you all about pensieves."  
  
"He tried to. And Hermione looked up the potion. She said it was very complicated and that it would make me sick and give me a terrible headache." He smiled broadly.  
  
"I trusted she would be able to find it. I'm afraid she's right on both counts. Nausea does tend to be a side effect, although if you don't know what's in it, maybe that won't be quite so pronounced." Cassie's eyes widened as the Headmaster grimaced to himself. "Anyway, the headache is actually a result of fooling around with your memories. I hope it won't be too bad for you today. I will be quick." He looked at her steadily. "If you do get sick, there's a toilet right through that door. Feel free to use it." Cassie didn't know whether to thank him or not. After all, he was going to be the one giving her the stuff that might make her puke. She wound up not saying anything because he continued without a pause, though, and she was glad. "You say Harry tried to tell you about pensieves."  
  
"He did a lousy job," said George. "But none of the rest of us were able to do much better."  
  
"I see. Well, they are a little complex." He stood and opened a cupboard. When he came back over to where she was sitting, he had a very heavy looking stone basin in his hands, he made a sort of pulling motion with his head and one of the side tables zoomed over to him and he set the basin on it. "This is my pensieve." Cassie stared at it for a moment and knew that George was doing the same. Harry had been right about the liquid in the basin. It did sort of look like molten silver, but not. It kind of glowed with a strange light and Cassie wanted to bend forward and look inside. She could see shadows moving, but could not quite make out what they were doing. She wanted to, more than anything else at the moment. Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat and she looked up at him in surprise.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"That's all right. They tend to do that, draw you in."  
  
"Harry said you would probably just watch the memory rather than go inside it. Is that true?"  
  
"Actually, pending agreement of my two witnesses, I actually had hoped to go inside."  
  
"But . . ." Cassie wanted to protest, but actually something else was nagging at her so she asked the question she really wanted answered. "Do you actually fall into the liquid? How does that work, exactly?"  
  
"It's magic, of course. Rather difficult to explain. I -" He looked at Arthur and Remus, who were sitting on the far side of the room. "Would you like to see a memory? See how it works exactly?"  
  
"Oh, yes!" Cassie thought that sounded like a marvelous idea.  
  
"Well, then . . . let's do that." Professor Dumbledore pulled his wand from his pocket, put it to his temple and a moment later held it over the basin. On it, was attached a thin thread of the same silvery stuff in the bowl and Cassie understood how Harry had thought it was his hair at first. He dropped the "memory" into the basin, where it joined the others softly glowing with promise. "Now, just bend forward, Miss Robinson, until you actually can see into the . . ." Cassie bent forward and then when she thought her nose would certainly touch the liquid, she found herself falling through a hole in the ceiling and she landed upright on her feet in a room she had been in many times, although never looking like this. She exclaimed in surprise but before she could do anything else, George appeared beside her, looking as shocked as she was sure she did. Professor Dumbledore appeared as well, then Arthur joined them. Cassie wanted to ask where Remus was, but she got distracted by what she was seeing.  
  
"We're in the Great Hall." She looked around her, trying to remember to breathe. The room was lit with hundreds of glowing candles suspended in midair and the students seemed tense with excitement and nerves. She glanced upward and the enchanted ceiling showed it to be dark outside on a clear night. She had the vague thought in the back of her head that she should be looking up into the Headmaster's office, but she wasn't. "But when?"  
  
"It's a feast. I daresay you've never been to one of those. Very elegant, um?" She looked up to the head table and laughed. Professor Dumbledore was sitting there, looking much younger, smiling broadly. She recognized Professors Snape and Flitwick easily as well as Professor Sprout and even Professor Trelawney, though she looked about 100 years younger than when Cassie had seen her last. There were some people she did not recognize, though, and she turned to look at students instead.  
  
"When was this, Professor?"  
  
"You'll see soon." George started at her side.  
  
"This was -"  
  
"Shh, Mr. Weasley. Let her be surprised."  
  
"I don't see Harry or anyone sitting at the Gryffindor table." She walked over to the table in question and looked at some of the students. "I don't see anyone I recognize."  
  
"Really?" George was laughing and Cassie looked at him, puzzled.  
  
"Look here." Her eyes widened because there, practically right in front of her, he and Fred were sitting. Well, much younger versions of themselves. Much younger.  
  
"Oh! That's you! And Fred!"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"But - how old were you here?"  
  
"Thirteen, I believe. I'm quite sure."  
  
"Thirteen?" Cassie approached the young George, who was currently stealing his twins' wand. "You were very cute."  
  
"Thank you. There's someone else you should recognize." Cassie looked down the table and saw Percy, who was scowling deeply at something one of the other students had done and was opening his mouth to begin a lecture when the doors to the Great Hall opened and every head in the room, including Cassie's, (adult) George's, Professor Dumbledore's, and Arthur's turned to see who was coming inside. Professor McGonagall, looking younger and happier than Cassie had ever seen her, entered the hall and led a column of small children up to the front of the room. But then Cassie laughed. These were not small children, these were first years! And there was Harry, looking pale, scrawny, and terrified, his bright green eyes practically glowing in the dim light of the candle-lit room. Ron was standing right next to Harry and Cassie thought he looked like he was going to pass out in terror. He was quite tall compared to the others, but none of them came up much past Cassie's elbow. She looked around for Hermione and laughed again when she found her at the front of the line, craning her head to take in everything at once. They all laughed as they watched the sorting ceremony and clapped along with everyone else when Hermione, then Harry, then Ron all got sorted into Gryffindor (by the talking hat, Cassie noted to herself) along with all the other girls and boys that Cassie had gotten to know at school and several whom she had never met. She stared daggers at Draco Malfoy but he was oblivious to her bad intentions and trooped happily over to the Slytherin table to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, who were already sitting sulkily on the bench. She wanted to watch for longer, but Dumbledore announced they had been there long enough and she found herself standing in his office again.  
  
"That was . . . well, that was . . . Thank you, Professor!" Cassie looked at George, who was grinning rather goofily at her.  
  
"So you think I was cute at 13?"  
  
She grinned goofily back. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?" She turned back to Professor Dumbledore, who stirred the contents of the basin and poked his wand into it, withdrew a slender silver thread and apparently put it back into his head, as the strand disappeared.  
  
"That was a happy memory for me. The first time I laid eyes on the boy Harry had become. He was . . . . Well, he does look so much like his father. It was almost breathtaking." He smiled at them and Cassie didn't stare when she saw his eyes were very bright. She glanced down at her clasped hands, instead, and gave him a moment to collect himself. "What did you think, Miss Robinson?"  
  
"It was amazing! But certainly you won't be able to see that much detail in my memory! It was only a split second."  
  
"Perhaps not. But the brain records a lot of detail that you do not even recognize or recall. For example, I am quite sure that I had never realized until this moment how terrified Mr. Weasley looked. I had assumed that he would know what to expect having had several older brother come to Hogwarts before him."  
  
"It didn't help that Fred had told him he would have to wrestle a mountain troll and win to get into Gryffindor," said George and Cassie could have sworn that she heard a suppressed laugh before she whipped her head back around to stare at the Headmaster of Hogwarts.  
  
"I see. That does explain quite a bit. Now," he shook his head and grinned at George. "Honestly I don't know how Hogwarts survived you two. Back to business." He looked at Cassie, his eyes earnest. "Do you have any questions or concerns?"  
  
"About a million of them, but I don't think any that are that important."  
  
"All right. Well, our witnesses should be here very soon. I have told them, Miss Robinson, the whole story. The truth. They needed to know. I imagine that they will have questions for you. Answer them as completely and honestly as you possibly can. If there is something they ask that I am not expecting and do not want them to know, I will speak up and tell them that you cannot answer the question."  
  
"Who's coming?" George asked. "I'm very uncomfortable with this idea."  
  
"You know them both. You have no reason to worry for Miss Robinson's safety. I . . ." He never finished his sentence, though, as two witches suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, looking flustered. One of them fell down and Cassie could completely relate as she struggled to stand and brushed off her robes.  
  
"Albus," they both said at once. Arthur and Remus smiled broadly and approached the two newcomers who were busily shaking Professor Dumbledore's hand. The older witches and wizards spoke quickly and then Professor Dumbledore introduced them to Cassie, who wiped her hands nervously on her jeans.  
  
"Miss Robinson, this is Madam Amelia Bones. She is Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Her niece, Susan, is in Harry's year at Hogwarts. Did you meet her?"  
  
"I don't think so." She said regretfully as she shook the older witch's hand. "What house is she in, Madam?"  
  
"Hufflepuff."  
  
"Oh. Is her last name Bones, too?" At her aunt's nod, Cassie smiled. "I do remember her, actually. Very nice girl."  
  
"Thank you. Is it true that you're a Muggle?" Her gaze was penetrating through the monacle she wore and Cassie squirmed a bit.  
  
"Yes. I am." But before either of them could comment further, Professor Dumbledore introduced the other witch.  
  
"And this is Miss Vivian Bascombe. She also works for the Ministry, unofficially, in the Dark Force Defense League." The witch was younger than Madam Bones, though not by much. She shook Cassie's hand firmly.  
  
"I must say, if this plot involves half the complexity and mystery that Albus hinted it might, you have done the Wizards of Britain a huge favor my coming forward with what you know."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Something suddenly crossed Cassie's mind. "Madam Bones?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"If you're head of law enforcement . . . how can you be here without arresting Professor Dumbledore, Arthur, and Remus?"  
  
George laughed. "Are you upset about that?"  
  
"Well, no, of course not. I was just curious, that's all." Cassie was suddenly very embarrassed she had asked.  
  
"That's a good question. However, today happens to be my day off and so I am here completely unofficially and I am quite sure that by the time I do get back to work next Monday I will have forgotten where I did see these three hardened criminals. Pity, really. Quite a nice reward out for their arrest." She laughed and her eyes twinkled. Then her expression got serious. "I would like to hear for myself your version of the story of what happened that night. And then I believe Albus has something for us to see."  
  
Cassie gulped. She didn't mind telling the story, only it was embarrassing to admit how stupid she had been and how much danger she had put everyone into because of that stupidity. "All right. It's been almost a month, though. I hope I remember all the details."  
  
"Before she begins, why don't you make yourselves comfortable, ladies?" The Headmaster helped them get seated into some of the comfortable squishy chairs he favored, Arthur and Remus joined them, and all six of the others looked at Cassie, waiting for her to begin.  
  
"It was a Wednesday night and Arthur and Remus came to get me because they thought I may want to . . . .and I hid back in the boxes and then they left and then Remus took me home." Cassie wound down her long story with a sigh and took a drink out of the glass of water sitting on the table for her. It had been difficult to retell to these new people, more difficult than she had expected. They hadn't offered any comment, just asked questions if she hadn't made things clear or if they wanted to know why she thought something or what had made her do something else. "Since that night, I've been able to pick out a few of them in pictures, but there are still two others that we cannot identify."  
  
"Hmm. Albus, I don't need to tell you that for Muggles to use pensieves is impossible."  
  
"Not impossible, but very dangerous." He nodded at Madam Bones. "I've made a potion that will allow me to remove the memory."  
  
"This seems fairly drastic. Certainly it cannot be that difficult. Show her pictures of all the Death Eaters and our problems will be solved." Dumbledore sighed.  
  
"I wish it were that easy, Vivian. We did that almost immediately, once she was safe. But she didn't recognize any of them, other than Lucius, I mean."  
  
"That makes no sense. They must be Death Eaters. Who else would . . ." Professor Dumbledore handed them each a piece of parchment. They both read over it, their eyes wide. "This is impossible. Completely impossible. You're asking me to believe that . . . these men would . . . but why? What is . . . what . . .these men would never work for You-Know-Who!" Both women were reading over the list again and again as though waiting for the punch line of a very bad joke.  
  
"No. Lord Voldemort is not involved in this plot." Both women winced at the name.  
  
"But Lucius . . . we all know that he . . . but Nightscall? No, this is utterly impossible! You are asking me to believe that they are actively supporting You-Know-Who?"  
  
"Amelia. Please, listen to me for a moment." Cassie felt vaguely panicked, now. These women did not believe her, refused to believe that these people could be evil. And Professor Dumbledore had trusted them. If they didn't believe her, what were the chances of anyone else believing her? She looked at George, who was also looking quite upset at the women's confusion. He was about to say something when Professor Dumbledore shot him a look and he shut his mouth.  
  
"I'll give you a moment, Albus, but I have serious doubts as to whether I'll actually be following through on viewing the memory in the penseive. She's obviously delusional." Miss Bascombe pressed her lips together and Cassie sighed.  
  
"Harry Potter. The Boy-Who-Lived. The boy who singlehandedly defeated Lord Voldemort when he was nothing but a baby. The boy who everyone expects will defeat him again - if they believe he can be defeated at all." Cassie hid a smile as the women winced again at the name.  
  
"What does he have to do with this?"  
  
"Everything. Absolutely everything." He had their attention now. And Cassie's, to be honest. Harry seemed to be only on the periphery of this story, only involved at all because Lucius Malfoy hated him. Or at least that is what she had thought. "You could not know, ladies, how many times Harry has faced Lord Voldemort in his years here at school. If you did, you would run screaming from this castle. They have fought many times and to be honest, there were many instances when Harry rightfully should have died. He lived through his own courage and wit and unfailing desire not to surrender to him. But he also lived because of one thing, one small detail that even he has not acknowledged. And that is -" he held up his hand when Miss Bascombe looked like she was going to interrupt. "And that detail is that Lord Voldemort has become obsessed with the idea of killing Harry Potter in some grand and glorious way to prove that what happened that night 16 years ago in Godric's Hollow was a fluke, an accident, a mere trifle. He is convinced that if he somehow gains power without soundly and completely defeating Harry Potter, then his victory would be hollow, that everyone would still think he was a weak wizard, able to be defeated by a baby." There was a long moments' silence as the witches (and everyone else in the room) absorbed this idea. Professor Dumbledore continued. "He is not content just to have him dead. No. That is not good enough. He wants Harry to admit that he has been bested, that he has been defeated. He wants everyone to see that he, Lord Voldemort, has triumphed. Many times, Harry has been in the hands of the Death Eaters when any one of them would have been capable of killing him, but they have been unable to do so, because they have known with certainty that were they to do so, Lord Voldemort would kill them in turn, and he would not make it quick and painless. They have always saved him for their Lord and in so doing, they have allowed him to continue to be defeated. Time after time."  
  
"That makes sense, I guess." Madam Bones finally said, nodding slightly at Vivian, who nodded back.  
  
"And he may be annoying and evil, but Lucius Malfoy is not stupid. He can see this flaw in his Master and he is tired of waiting. I am sure that his plan was fairly straightforward when initially concocted. Find a way for Harry Potter to be killed by someone else, not a Death Eater, preferably the Ministry. That would eliminate the one object seemingly standing in Lord Voldemort's way to regaining full power. And, he couldn't really be mad at any of them. And if he made it look like it was just part of a Ministry operation that had to do with the Order of the Phoenix rather than specifically Harry Potter, than all the better. Lord Voldemort would rant and rave for a while, but he would go ahead and finish with whatever plans he has for retaking control and finally, finally Lucius would be second-in-command to the most powerful wizard in the history of the world."  
  
"So, these others . . .?"  
  
"Power. I am sure he promised them power. Whether with Lord Voldemort in control or not, I am uncertain. But there are always men and women, might I add, who crave more power than they have, and care little how they get it. Nightscall, so easy to promise him the Ministry, just conveniently forget to mention that the Ministry will not be in existence any more, etc., etc.  
  
"I see."  
  
"And he simply brought the Muggle government into the plot as well to further hide his involvement. Lord Voldemort can never know that it was his idea, for then he would surely be punished. No. It is to look like a completely unfortunate event. Harry Potter, caught up in a web set out for the Order, and I'm sure so ever-conveniently-and-accidentally killed by an over-ambitious Auror who would undoubtedly be dispatched from this world quickly in supposed retaliation for his error."  
  
"That makes sense, Albus. It's so simple that it might have actually worked, had this girl not seen what she saw."  
  
"Yes. That is my feeling as well."  
  
"Then let's get on with this. It is my day off, after all," said Madam Bones and she settled back in her chair to wait for Professor Dumbledore to indicate that she was to do something else. He smiled and went over to his desk.  
  
"Here is the potion. I'm afraid, Miss Robinson, that it is extremely foul-tasting. Unfortunately, anything I add to it to help the flavor might destroy its power, so you'll just have to gag it down. Remember, if you feel sick, don't be embarrassed to go into the toilet. None of us will think less of you. But before you go, I will need to remove the memory. I want you to think, carefully, about that night. Bring it up to the forefront of your brain. Try to separate it from other thoughts. Think of it as a separate entity, hard and clear and well-defined. Cassie really tried to do as he asked although it was difficult with the potion sitting there in front of her and her knowing that she was going to have to drink the brownish goo bubbling in the goblet. She picked it up, thinking that no matter what, it couldn't be as bad as the polyjuice stuff she had had to drink for Hermione. She was wrong. It was worse. Much worse.  
  
She forced herself to swallow mouthful after mouthful of the stuff, finally draining the goblet and feeling it hit her stomach with the force of a ton of bricks. She concentrated hard now on the memory, trying to keep it available so that Professor Dumbledore wouldn't have to do much digging around in her brain. It was hard, though, when she had to also concentrate on not throwing up all over Madam Bones' immaculate red shoes. She felt the tip of Professor Dumbledore's wand touch her temple and then it lifted and Cassie blinked in vague surprise. It felt odd, like a string was being pulled through her skin. It didn't actually hurt, but it certainly was not something she would volunteer to repeat. She watched, somewhat morbidly fascinated, as he put the faintly-glowing string into the basin with the others and stirred with his wand tip. He said some word she didn't catch and the dark shop from that night suddenly appeared above the stone basin and she saw the wizards, all of whom she could now put names to, walking ahead of her into the door.  
  
"Very good. We've got it." He said another word and the shop wavered and disappeared. He nodded at the two witches and then he leaned forward, his long nose almost touching the surface of the liquid and then, suddenly, he was gone. Well, mentally, at least. Cassie's stomach was still rolling but she couldn't drag her eyes away from the sight of Professor Dumbledore's body moving away from the basin and sitting on a chair. Madam Bones leaned forward and the same thing happened with her and then Miss Bascombe. Their bodies were still sitting in the office, but it was obvious, as her brother Matthew would say, "the lights weren't even on and nobody was home."  
  
George had a strange look on his face as he looked at the three "soulless bodies" as well. "I guess they're in there now. That's creepy."  
  
"Yeah," both Arthur and Remus said at once and laughed. Cassie didn't speak or laugh, she just made a beeline for the toilet. George was right on her heels and she tried to wave him out before she embarrassed herself in front of him. The thought of him watching her throw up was not a nice one.  
  
"Here. I brought you these." He shoved something into her mouth and she gagged, but tried to swallow, unsure of what it was but thinking that if it was going to come up with the rest in a minute, it wouldn't matter anyway. Amazingly, almost instantly the rolling of her stomach stopped and she felt a little better. He gave her another one and she chewed it. It tasted good, like candy, but she thought that anything would be an improvement after the retch-inducing taste of that potion.  
  
"What is that?"  
  
"A Puking Pastille."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Just the antidote side. I wasn't sure it would work, but thought it couldn't hurt. How are you feeling?"  
  
"Much better, really. Can I have another?" She ate five altogether before he refused to give her any more.  
  
"Come get a drink of water. You'll feel better to get that taste out of your mouth. It stunk really bad."  
  
"Well, the stench was nothing compared to the taste. How come I'm the one that has to drink all these gross things?"  
  
"I had to drink Skele-Gro yesterday. That was pretty disgusting."  
  
"True." The soul-less bodies were still sitting in the chairs but Arthur and Remus had moved away from them to another part of the room. Cassie got a drink and they joined them.  
  
"You all did the same," said Remus, "when you went in earlier. It is very strange looking." He looked over at the bodies with a rather thoughtful expression. "I wonder if that's what someone looks like when they've had a Dementor's Kiss?"  
  
"What?" asked Cassie.  
  
"Never mind, I'll tell you later." George whispered.  
  
"Not that good," said Arthur. "At least here the body is waiting for the soul's return. After a Kiss, it knows it's not coming back, and it almost dies instantly. Almost, but not quite." Cassie wanted to ask another question but with an almost blinding intensity, she felt someone hit her over the head with a 2X4. Well, no one in the room had moved but her head exploded all the same, into such a blinding pain that despite herself she screamed and felt the darkness claim her.  
  
When she woke to George's concerned face, she wanted to reassure him that she was fine, but truthfully, she couldn't. She couldn't force her mouth to move. Every particle of her brain hurt and she thought with a certain clarity of thought she was surprised she possessed that Hermione had been understating things when she'd said a pounding headache. This was absolutely excruciating.  
  
Professor Dumbledore had been prepared and had left several headache-curing potions on his desk but after gagging down two of them and they hadn't done anything for the pain, Cassie just cured up in a ball on George's lap and tried not to cry. He held perfectly still and she closed her eyes against the glaring brightness of the room, and drifted in and out of consciousness for the next 20 minutes or so. He stirred, finally, and she murmured a vague protest. "They're back, love. You stay here, I'm going to go talk to them." She cranked her eyes open to see the three previously soul-less bodies were now moving, talking, and looking concerned. Professor Dumbledore stood up and waved at George.  
  
"Don't move, Mr. Weasley. The headache remedies didn't do anything for her?" George didn't speak in deference to her agony but Cassie could feel him shake his head. "I'm sorry. Well, when you get her back to the Burrow she can sleep. That will help." He looked at the two witches standing next to him, both of them were rather pale, Cassie thought, as she followed his gaze. "We saw everything we needed to see. We have identified the other two wizards. But we do have some rather unfortunate news."  
  
"What's that, Albus?" said Arthur and Cassie wanted to be concerned but she didn't have the energy.  
  
"There was supposed to be a 9th wizard there. They were waiting for him. He was running late and had not yet arrived. So, we still have one more man involved, an important one, I believe, and we have no idea who it is."


	70. New Year, New Problems

Chapter 70  
New Year - New Problems George swore quietly and Cassie wanted to smile in response but her head hurt too badly. Remus stood up in frustration and Arthur joined him a second later. Cassie closed her eyes but listened carefully to their conversation.

"You mean we're not done with this yet? You have no idea who it is?"

"No - sadly they were using code names and they never even mentioned his code name to give us a hint of who it could be. But we tried, we really tried. That's why we took so long. We looked at every piece of paper and everything else in the room trying to see some indication of who they were waiting for, but there was nothing."

The two witches sat down heavily on chairs next to George and Cassie. "All I can say, young lady, is that you did very well. All the men on the parchment were indeed at that meeting, just as you said."

Cassie nodded, keeping her eyes closed. George spoke quietly to the Headmaster. "So, who were the other two wizards Cassie did see?" Dumbledore answered him and Cassie tried to pay attention although it was difficult when what she really wanted was to go back to sleep.

"One of them is an American, a wizard I am sure you have never heard of. His name is Jonathan Wilson. He works for the American wizarding government. We are not really sure what his role was in this group although it is most likely as some sort of liaison. Or, he may be in it for himself. There may have been some sort of promise of safety for him or his family after Voldemort assumes power here. We aren't sure."

"You're right. I've never heard of him." Cassie could feel George's anger practically radiating through his skin even though his voice was steady and soft. "And the other?"

"His purpose in the group is more easily defined. His name is Sean MacConnell. He works for the Daily Prophet as one of their reporters. I am sure that he was there to serve as sort of a propagandist. He has not written all of the articles about us criminals, but I believe he has written many of them. It makes sense that he was there and it just convinces me more that this was a well-organized effort. They really knew what they were doing. Had it not been for Miss Robinson - I'm not sure what would have happened, but it would certainly not have been pleasant." Cassie felt Dumbledore's hand on her shoulder and she smiled vaguely up toward what she hoped was him, her eyes still firmly closed.

"What are you going to do about finding the other one?" Remus asked and Cassie sighed into George's shirt. She was curious, but her part was done and right now all she wanted to do was go back to the Burrow and sleep for a week or so.

"I am thinking about that right now. I have an idea or two but I don't want to rush into a decision. I think at the moment, we need to get Miss Robinson back to the Burrow and I will let you know once I have settled on a possible idea."

"Just make sure it does not involve Cassie."

"Right now, I think we need to replace that memory. That will do a great deal toward helping your headache. Just sit still for a few moments, please."

"Aren't you going to need it again?" asked George and Cassie was grateful, because she had just been wondering the same thing but hadn't wanted to ask. All she could really think at the moment was that she was never going to do this again. Never.

"No. All three of us saw it and we took copious notes. That will be adequate." Cassie felt a wand tip against her temple and pushed away from it, not wanting that sensation of the string being pulled through her skin again. That had been so strange. However, this time, although she could definitely feel the memory strand passing through her skin, it was not nearly as peculiar. She really couldn't define what it felt like and she was unsure if that was because her brain was in such pain that one more odd sensation didn't register or if she really didn't have the words for it. She didn't, though, honestly care. She sighed against George, only aware of one thing. Her head did not feel any better. "There. Now I suggest you all go back to the Burrow. I will probably call a meeting of the Order tomorrow or possibly Friday to make some decisions about what we want to do next. I'll be in touch."

The trip via portkey was the most unpleasant she had taken and when she landed in a heap on the floor of the Burrow to everyone's exclamations of concern, Cassie groaned in gratitude when George whisked her upstairs to her bed. She could hear Arthur and Remus explaining what had happened to everyone else in the house and she tuned it out, concentrating instead on George's even breathing. That seemed to help keep the pounding in her head to a minimum. "Drink this," he said after he had taken off her shoes and loosened what clothing he could without actually undressing her. She shook her head then instantly regretted it. "It's not a headache remedy. Those obviously aren't going to work. This will just help you sleep." She dutifully swallowed the liquid he help up to her lips.

"Have you people ever heard of pills?" she muttered. "They don't taste. Maybe you should . . . ." She wanted to finish her sentence but she couldn't because she forgot the end and she laid back on the pillow. "George?"

"Yes, Cassie?"

"It's New Year's Eve tonight."

"I know."

"Wake me later, okay?"

"We'll see." And then she smiled to herself and allowed sleep to take away the pounding in her head.

"Cassie? Cassie?" The voice didn't go away so she dutifully forced her eyes open, expecting bright light to assault her battered brain. But instead, the room was in a dusky sort of haze and she opened them wider. George was sitting on her bed, holding her hand and calling her name softly. When he saw her looking at him, he smiled. "How are you feeling?" She didn't answer right away, trying to decide.

"Better, actually. My head doesn't hurt nearly as much." She glanced around, thoroughly disoriented. "What time is it?"

"Seven."

"In the morning or at night?"

"At night. Mum's got dinner on the table. I thought you might want to come down. She's really made a nice meal for the holiday."

"Holiday? Oh, yeah. It's still New Year's Eve, isn't it?"

"Yes. It is. Are you sure you're up to it? You seem a little, um, out of it."

"I am a bit. But I think it was that potion you gave me. Give me a minute. I really do feel better." She looked at him again. "You shouldn't be in here with me alone." 

"I know. I was hoping that since you were sick, you really wouldn't mind." His grin was slightly sly. "At least that's what I told my mum." She smiled and tried to sit up. The room spun slightly on its axis and she closed her eyes quickly, then slowly opened them after another moment. The room stayed still so she set her feet on the floor.

"And she bought that story?"

"She did."

"I see. I'll have to have a talk with her, then. Because if I wasn't convinced that I had the worst morning breath in the history of the world, I would be kissing you senseless right now." She ran her tongue over her teeth, which felt hairy and gross. "Do me a favor, George." 

"Sure." 

"Please do not force me to drink another potion for at least a month. I've now had about 12 in the last 24 hours and I think I may actually die if I have to have another." 

"You're exaggerating." 

"Not by much. Ginny drugged me last night, remember? Then there was the one this morning, the two headache remedies, and the one you gave me up here." 

"That's 5 - nowhere near 12." 

"Close enough. Five, twelve. It's all the same." She stood up carefully, testing the strength of her legs. To her surprise they held her upright, although she grabbed George's shoulder for support at first. 

"So, maths isn't your best subject?" She laughed tentatively, pleased she could do so without hurting anywhere. 

"I get by. I need to go brush my teeth. Help me, please?" He helped her to the bathroom and stayed right outside while she brushed her teeth about three times, trying to get rid of the tastes of the various gross substances she had been forced to ingest that day. Then he carefully helped her set her clothing right and put her shoes on again and he even brushed her hair very gently when she couldn't do it without pulling. "Is everyone waiting downstairs for us?" 

"No. I came up a bit early because I thought it might take me a while to get you up and moving."

"I'm sorry I'm being a wimp." She sighed as he tied her second trainer. 

"What do you mean, Cassie? You were very brave today." She sighed and twisted her lips. "But I should be feeling better now, right? Am I just being a -"

"No. Don't even think that. That was a really nasty potion you had to drink today. I had Hermione show me the ingredients. It would make anybody sick. Truly." 

"Don't tell me what's in it. I saw Professor Dumbledore's expression. I don't want to know." 

"I won't." They walked carefully down the stairs, she following him carefully, stepping with concentration down each step so that she didn't miss one and fall into him. When they reached the kitchen, Molly looked over and smiled at her. 

"You're feeling better, then?" 

"Yes. I am." 

"That's good. We all hoped you'd be able to celebrate the turning of the year with us." Ginny poked her head in a moment later and hugged Cassie tightly. 

"You're up! We're so proud of you!" 

"Thanks. But I didn't do anything." 

Ginny opened her mouth to say something else when Hermione, followed immediately by Ron and then Harry entered the kitchen, also. They all hugged her, the boys very carefully as though she was going to break and she hugged Harry tightly before he let her go. "You okay, Cass?" 

"Yeah. I think so. I'm still in one piece. And I don't think I'm mad." He smiled broadly at her and then glanced at George before hugging her again. 

"He gets rather perturbed when I hug you. But . . ." Cassie just grinned but did see George's face get a rather strained look before Harry let go. They all sat down at the table and were joined in short order by Tonks, sporting a multi-colored spiky hairdo and electric blue eyes ("in celebration of the holiday, of course") that made Cassie blink in surprise, Remus, Arthur, Bill, and Charlie. Fred was the last to join them and Cassie wondered what he had been doing. His color was rather high and he looked agitated. She wanted to ask him what was going on but decided it was none of her business, so she turned away from him and looked at Ron instead. He was looking rather green and she blinked a few times before deciding it really was him and not just some trick her battered psyche was playing on her. 

She ate her dinner carefully. The food was very good and as always there was plenty of it. She didn't have much of an appetite which was hardly surprising. But she tasted everything and complimented Molly on the meal. She tried to help clean up afterward, but she tired quickly and after a few minutes, George led her out of the kitchen and settled her on one of the easy chairs. "Just wait here. I'll go help Mum if it would make you feel better. We've got some great stuff planned for the evening and I want you to stay awake for it." 

"What kind of stuff?" she asked, wondering if it would explain either Fred's anxiety or Ron's queasiness. 

"It's a surprise." He bent very close to her ear and whispered, his breath sending shivers up her spine. "I wish we could play Partners again, love. That was the most fun, ever." She smiled and turned her face to meet his mouth. Their kiss was gentle at first, but George put his hand behind her head and pushed a bit harder against her lips, then pulled back as though questioning her about whether she wanted it. She followed his mouth and kissed him. It had been too long since they had really kissed and she suddenly wanted more of the passionate kisses he was so good at. He groaned and slipped off the footstool he had been sitting on, kneeling in front of her. His other hand came up and slipped into her hair, holding her head still for his mouth. She felt his tongue slide over her lips and she responded, opening her mouth a little to allow him to deepen the kiss. Someone cleared their throat behind George and they both jumped. Cassie looked up to see Ginny standing there, grinning like the cat that ate the canary. 

"Sorry to interrupt." 

George just scowled and stood up. "Did you want something in particular or are you just trying to drive me mad?" 

"I wanted Cassie, of course. Your sanity or lack thereof is your own concern." George just growled in the back of his throat and stalked off toward the kitchen. Ginny sat down in front of Cassie. "Hermione and I are going to get dressed up, in fancy dress robes and all. Do you want to?" 

"But, why?" 

"Hermione suggested it. She said that her family does it every year and she likes to have the excuse." 

"I guess so. I'm not sure I really have anything appropriate." 

"We'll find you something. Don't worry." 

They went upstairs, giggling, and Cassie smiled at George who was helping his mother wash dishes. He still didn't look too pleased at the earlier interruption although he smiled back at her as she climbed the first set of stairs. Once she was up in Ginny's room, they started trying to assemble nice outfits. Hermione talked her into wearing the witch's robes George had given her for Christmas even though Cassie insisted they were much too elegant for an evening when she was just staying in. However, when she tried them on and saw how stunning they truly were, she gave in to the other two girls' pleading and left them on, then allowed Ginny to do something fancy with her hair. She put on her constellation necklace once again and looked at herself for a long time in the mirror. "I almost don't recognize myself, Hermione." 

"You look like a proper witch. George will be impressed." Cassie tried not to think too hard about the implications of that statement and just thought about kissing George later and grinned. 

"Hermione? Ron looked nervous earlier. Are you two going to your parents' tonight?" 

"No. He seemed all right to me." She looked at Cassie closer. "Do you think something might be wrong with Harry?" 

"What's wrong with Harry?" asked Ginny as she opened the bedroom door and came inside after a visit to the toilet. 

"Nothing. It's just that Cassie thinks Ron looks upset and that's usually the only thing that upsets him." 

"Oh. Well, Harry seemed okay earlier. What is Ron upset about?" 

"I don't know. And no, we haven't been fighting or anything if that was your next question, Ginny." 

"It was probably nothing. And he looked nervous, not upset." Cassie was going to mention about Fred but decided against it. "George said they had a surprise for tonight. It's undoubtedly to do with that." 

"What sort of surprise?" 

"I don't know. He didn't say." The three girls all looked at each other, now each slightly anxious for different reasons. Cassie wished she hadn't asked about Ron earlier because this had obviously upset Hermione who in turn had upset Ginny. 

But all three plastered smiles on their faces and went downstairs. The rest of the family was gathered in the living room and when they entered, there was more than one wolfish whistle directed at them. George took Cassie's hands and held them out to her side, inspecting the robes carefully until Cassie flushed and pulled away. 

They settled into seats and Cassie relaxed against George's shoulder when he sat down by her. "You look wonderful tonight." 

"Thank you. When do I get to know the surprise?" 

"Very soon." Molly had several trays of goodies set out in the living room and Cassie recognized some of the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes among them. She decided that she would avoid them completely. She had had more than enough weird magic today. Anymore and who knew what would happen. She told

George as much and he pointed out a few new things she should avoid, then, and also promised he would not let her eat anything magical. 

After a few minutes of small talk and some more discussion about the day's events, George and Fred stood up and stood next to each other. "Family, we have a special surprise tonight. Most of our fireworks were destroyed as you know yesterday in our shop. However, we had a few prototypes for our new and improved Wildfire Whiz-Bang Fireworks in our room upstairs and we would like you to come watch them in celebration of the New Year." The both bowed deeply and summoned a large box to them. 

"Are you insane, Fred? You want to set off fireworks - obvious wizarding fireworks - above the Burrow? Why don't we just send invitations to the Aurors and tell them to come find us?" 

"Oh, Mum! Honestly, you worry too much. There are fireworks going off all over the place tonight. Mostly Muggle ones, of course, but they will still provide adequate cover." 

Despite Molly's rather worried looks, everyone trooped outside, although there was some good-natured grumbling about freezing to death from Harry and Ron looked even more nervous than earlier. George and Fred had obviously planned ahead because set up a short distance from the house was a group of chairs and some warm blankets for everyone to tuck around them. Cassie found a comfortable chair and watched as the twins got to work on lighting the rockets. 

It took about a half hour for the entire show and by the time the last whirling Catherine wheel had faded into black, Cassie was hoarse from cheering. It had been without a doubt the most incredible display of fireworks that she had ever seen and she told George as much when he came over to her afterward. "That was so marvelous, George! I can't believe the two of you can make things like that!" 

"Thank you, Cassie." He looked down at his shoes and Cassie could have sworn he blushed. "You really enjoyed it?" 

"Yes! It was amazing!" 

"Good. I hoped you would like it." 

"I guess that explains what Fred was doing right before dinner, then. I'm glad this was it. I was sort of worried. Did Ron help?" George looked at her in confusion. 

"What? What was Fred doing right before dinner?" 

"I . . . I assumed he was getting ready for the . . ." George was shaking his head. "No. We got this ready this afternoon." 

"Oh." Cassie tried to hide her worry. Fred had been up to something. She was almost positive but it was certainly nothing that was any of her business. 

George stopped walking toward the Burrow and looked at her. "Tell me you are not thinking that Fred is the one who betrayed you." 

"No! He wouldn't! I trust him implicitly, George! I really do!" But despite her completely honest insistence, Cassie felt a niggle of doubt in her soul. George took her hand and they walked back over to the circle of chairs where Fred was folding up blankets. 

"Oi! Coming back to help, are you? Good thing, Forge. I thought you'd deserted me." George just stepped up to him. 

"What were you doing right before dinner?" 

"What?" 

"Right before dinner. What were you doing?" 

Fred turned a dark red color. "It's none of your concern!" He looked over at Cassie and she felt, for the first time, a bit of anger in his gaze. "It's nothing to do with you or her." 

George's mouth thinned. "Tell us. We need to know!" 

"No, you don't." He turned his back on his twin and folded another blanket with an angry flick of his wand. 

"Don't make me tell Dad and Mum." Fred turned and stared into his twin's eyes. 

"If you think I would ever betray any member of this family or even a friend, then I have to wonder what has happened to you." 

"Nothing has-" "George!" Cassie stepped between the two of them. George pushed her gently aside but Cassie grabbed his arm. "Please, don't! I don't want you two to fight!" She suddenly felt weary and wanted to cry, but she pulled hard on his arm. He ignored her at first, but eventually turned toward her and stopped staring at his brother. 

Something shifted in his eyes, then, and he helped Cassie sit down and tucked a blanket around her. Then he sat down and patted the chair next to him. "Come talk to me. You know that if the situation were reversed, you would have done the same thing." Fred shook his head, but then grimaced and sat down. 

"Fred! George! You need to come in. We're about ready to start the game!" 

"We'll be in in a moment, Dad!" Fred leaned back in his chair and stared up at the clear sky. "I . . . . went to see Angelina." 

"What! But you didn't . . . leave from the kitchen." 

"No, I didn't. I went outside the wards to disapparate. I wanted to go ask her . . . , you know, if she would possibly marry me." 

"Ah." 

"But she was gone. Her mum said that she went with a friend out of town. So, I came back but had to apparate pretty far away from the house and then walk back. I underestimated the time it would take. That's why I was a little late." He looked at Cassie. "I've been thinking about what you said last night, about her maybe betraying you. I'm sure it wasn't her." 

"I'm sure, too. That was unfair. It was just I was a little bit panicky. I like Angelina. If she's smart, she'll say yes, when you do eventually manage to ask her." All three of them laughed and the two brothers looked rather awkwardly at each other. 

"I'm sorry, Gred."

"I'm sorry, too, Forge. I don't blame you for being nervous. You almost have to be, things being still unsettled." Fred sighed and picked anxiously at the blanket sitting in his lap. "It may have been Percy, you know. The one who mentioned her." 

"No!" Cassie stood up. "He's a bit annoying, but he wouldn't-" 

"Not on purpose. The thing with Percy is . . . he talks way too much and he doesn't know how to keep secrets. I started thinking today that if he mentioned your parents' names together to someone, they might get suspicious. We didn't give them fake names when they were here. Or your brothers. And we told him they were Muggles. It doesn't take too much imagination to see how if all that information was put together by one person who knows them, it would be obvious that it was your family. And Angelina could tell every single person she knows about you from now until next Halloween and no one would care. But Percy only has to tell one person at his job, and next thing you know, Nightscall hears about it and he passes it on to Blackman and he . . . well. He knows, then. The risk is small. The bet is hedged. And . . ." Fred stood up, folded the blanket again and then started banishing them one by one toward the house. "Percy's first day back at work after Christmas was Monday. Your dad was approached on Tuesday. The timing fits, really. They hear the rumors, take a few hours to check with the school in Switzerland, and then Blackman feels safe enough to ask your dad for clarification. He's not satisfied. By that night, they're certain. Maybe they show Perce a picture of your dad. Who knows?" 

George stood up and helped Cassie stand, then folded her blanket and banished it toward the house as well. All three of them looked at each other again. Fred sighed and started stacking chairs. "I don't want to tell Mum and Dad. Not yet. Not until it matters. I figure . . . well, the damage is done. He doesn't know anything else. And, maybe more importantly, I only have my suspicions. No evidence." Cassie and George both nodded. "Come on. We better get in there or Mum will have our heads for keeping Cassie out in the cold for too long." He waved his wand at the stack of chairs and they disappeared. George took her hand and they started back toward the house. He looked back at Fred. 

"Do you know anything about Ron?" Fred looked startled. 

"Ron? Why?" 

"Cassie says he's nervous about something." 

"He's green. I've only seen him that particular shade a few times and he's always been nervous." 

"Oh." Fred nodded. "I have some idea. If . . . if we don't know by tomorrow, I'll tell you, okay?" 

"Sounds fair." 

The house was warm and inviting and Cassie settled with relief into a comfortable chair in the living room. Molly was fairly put out that she had been out that long and pushed a cup of warm cocoa into her hands. Cassie sniffed it suspiciously and made George do some sort of revealing spell on it to see if it was drugged. He assured her (after performing the charm) that it wasn't and she sipped it slowly as teams were chosen. It was the Weasley Family party game again and Cassie decided to sit this one out. It wasn't that she hadn't had fun last time, it was just that she knew she was a pity choice because she really couldn't play and this time everybody knew it. She laughed and smiled through the entire thing, though, and was pleased when George's team won, despite Charlie's really bad artistic talents and some difficult pictures that their team had to draw. 

By the time the game was finished, it was after 11 and Mr. Weasley set some sort of timer device to count down the remaining minutes of the year. The magical mistletoe was floating around again and Cassie and George "had" to kiss several times as it returned to them on a suspicious number of occasions. Cassie suspected that Fred was helping it but she didn't complain. Remus and Tonks also got their fair share of kissing opportunities and Molly and Arthur made their children all groan when they sank into a passionate snogging session at the mistletoe's prompting and didn't emerge for quite a few minutes. Ginny and Harry kept kissing despite the fact the mistletoe wasn't paying them many visits and Ron looked truly puce by now and Hermione was looking rather annoyed that he kept ignoring the mistletoe's attempts to get them into a passionate embrace. The single brothers, Bill, Charlie, and Fred, kept catcalling to the kissing couples although Bill looked fairly melancholy every time Cassie looked at him. Finally, it was almost midnight and George stood up and pulled Cassie up next to him.  
When the timer buzzed, he covered her mouth with his and she wrapped her arms around his neck, meeting his passion with her own and losing interest rapidly in anything else going on around her. It was Hermione's excited squeal that made her pull away and turn her head in an almost dazed stupor toward the older girl. She was crying and laughing at the same time and Ron, looking decidedly less green was smiling and holding onto her hand. Well, her right hand. She kept looking at her left and Cassie grinned broadly as she realized in an instant what Ron had been so upset about. "So that's it." She muttered and George shook his head. 

"What's it?" 

"If I'm not mistaken, I believe you just got a new future sister-in-law." She walked over to Hermione and her suspicions were confirmed as she saw the unmistakable band of gold on her third finger. Hermione's eyes were bright with tears as she and Ginny embraced. Ron still looked vaguely ill, although the green tinge was gone from his expression. Everyone else seemed to realize at the same moment what had happened and the next 15 minutes were spent with everyone hugging everyone else, crying, laughing, teasing, and examining the delicate ring Ron had slipped onto her finger at the stroke of midnight. By the time the excitement had died down, everyone was exhausted and the party broke up rapidly. Ginny, Hermione, and Cassie were still standing there giggling faintly as Hermione started running over possible wedding dates in the upcoming year. George interrupted, wrapping his arms firmly around Cassie's waist. 

"I wanted to spend some time with you last night but my darling sister prevented that very effectively. Then, I wanted to spend some time with you tonight to make up for it and my darling younger brother upstaged me. You don't get to retreat upstairs yet. It's been forever since I've held you." 

"George!" Cassie flushed brightly, glancing at the other two girls. "You held me today." 

"I don't mean held while you were violently ill, sweetheart. You know what I mean." He waggled his eyebrow in the way he did when he was trying to be suggestive and she shook her head. 

"But -" Cassie wasn't sure how to gracefully say that she thought Ron and Hermione should have a chance to kiss in private down here in the living room 

"No buts." He turned to Ron. "You want to have some alone time with Hermione?" 

"Er, yes." 

He then turned to Harry, who was still looking slightly shell-shocked on the periphery of the room and was leaning heavily on the fireplace mantel. "You want to snog with my sister?" "Yes. For New Year's. It's good luck." He looked steadily at George although his face was flushed even in the dim light. 

"Yeah. Right. Okay. Ron, Hermione, you take this room. It's probably only right since you're newly engaged. Harry, Ginny you can have the kitchen. And I don't want to here any complaints about hard furniture. You can manage. Cassie and I are going to . . . well, somewhere else." The other two couples grinned faintly at each other and Harry and Ginny followed them into the kitchen. Then George took her hand and led her up the stairs. 

"George. We can't go up into the bedroom." 

"I know. No beds where we're going." He led her into the laundry room and Cassie looked with vague shock at him. 

"Your parents are next door." 

"I know." He cast the familiar silencing charm around the room, then pointed his wand toward the door. Before he said anything else, though, he looked at Cassie and lowered his wand. "I think I'll leave that unlocked. It'll keep me honest." Cassie smiled and opened her arms to him. 

"You need to be kept honest?" 

"Hell, yes," he muttered and his mouth slanted over hers. His skin was hot under her fingers, even through the fine linen of his shirt, and his hands were hot where they held her face, turning it the way he wanted as he opened her mouth with his. Cassie abandoned herself completely to the kiss, the anxiety and stress of the day finding resolution in the blazes he ignited with his hands and tongue and lips. "Merlin." He gasped a few moments later. "You, you're pushing me over the edge, sweetheart." 

"I'm sorry." And she truly was. She felt anxious, like little fires were igniting all over her and she didn't know what to do to put them out. 

"I'm not," and then his mouth met hers again and the next thing she was aware of was when he lifted her and set her on one of the folding tables, nudging her legs apart and stepping between them, his thighs leaning against the edge of the table. His hands were gripping her shoulders, releasing, gripping again, and the soft material of her robes felt thick and coarse against her sensitized skin. Her hands were busy, too, stroking his back up and down, feeling the pulse in his neck, tangling themselves in his hair. She wanted to be closer to him somehow but wasn't sure how. Then she put her hand on the front of his shirt and slipped her fingers between the buttons. When they met bare flesh, he jumped and pulled away from her. She looked at him with wide eyes. She was sure that she was about to go up in smoke and was anxious for him to find some way to make it better. "It's all right, love. If you want to." He didn't even have to specify what he meant because her fingers seemed to know. She unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, then the next one, then the next one, holding her breath as the muscles of his chest were revealed to her feverish gaze. 

She laid her hand flat against his bare skin and they both exhaled suddenly as though they both realized they had forgotten to breathe. "Cassie?" She ignored him, and leaned forward to kiss the skin above her hand. It was rough and smooth at the same time and her tongue darted out to touch it, tasting the slightly salty tang of his skin. She wanted to do nothing more at the moment than crawl inside his skin and absorb him into herself. "Cassie. You need to stop, sweet. You need to stop right now." She looked up at him, uncertain what he was saying. 

"We need to leave now, okay?" She shook her head. 

"You haven't held me yet." 

"Oh, Merlin!" He barely breathed the words, but pulled a chair over with a flick of his wand and sat down in it, then pulled her off the table onto his lap. She wriggled against him and he gasped. "Stop. Don't move." She stopped, only aware at the moment of the warm skin of his chest now against her cheek and she marveled that the position which last night and this morning had been nothing but comforting and secure was now completely different. She turned her head into his chest and kissed him again. He lifted her chin, bringing her mouth up to his mouth and kissed her once, twice, three times firmly and then he set her off his lap. "I think you had better get to bed. I'm not quite sure that you're thinking clearly." He looked with some regret at her and then buttoned his shirt again, pushing her fingers aside when she tried to stop him. "It's not that I'm not enjoying this. I just want to make sure you know what you're doing. No regrets in the morning and all that." 

"George, I want-" 

"I know what you want. I want it, too. But not tonight. Not like this." He removed the silencing charm and led her out into the hall, leaning her against the wall. She grabbed for his hands again and he gently kissed her. "I'm going downstairs to get the other girls. Stay here." She tried to follow him, but he raised an eyebrow in a sardonic gaze and she leaned back against the wall where he had put her. 

Ginny, Hermione, Harry, and Ron came up the stairs a few minutes later, Ron with a mutinous expression on his face. When George reached the landing where Cassie was waiting for him, he held out his hand and she grabbed it and they climbed the other stairs together, stopping in front of Ginny's room. The three couples talked for a few minutes and no one was too embarrassed as they kissed softly before the girls went into their bedroom. Ron bent forward to whisper something in Hermione's ear. George watched his younger brother and said, in a wholly conversational, non-accusatory tone, "Did you know, Ron, that I can hear anybody going up or down the steps to your room? They're right above my bed." Ron flushed. 

"I didn't know that." 

"Yeah. Well, it's true. Goodnight, girls. Happy New Year." He lifted Cassie's chin one more time and kissed her gently. "Goodnight, love. I'll see you in the morning."


	71. The Deep Breath before the Plunge

Boy! I don't know what happened with my formatting- I did it the same way as always and could not get it to look good. So, I had to manually go back in and insert new paragraph markers. Strange. Anyway, I apologize. It's better now.

Chapter 71  
"The Deep Breath before the Plunge"

Cassie, Ginny, and Hermione all looked at each other and started giggling. They tumbled into the bedroom still laughing and they all fell onto Ginny's bed. Hermione buried her head in a pillow and Cassie bit her hand to keep from laughing so loud that they woke everyone else up. Cassie didn't know what was so funny exactly, but the fact that the other two girls were laughing was making it much worse. When they finally calmed down enough to speak, they all said at once, "What were you laughing about?" That set them off again and this time it was Cassie who buried her face in a pillow while Ginny tried three times (in between gales of giggles) to set a silencing charm on the door.

Cassie lay back on the bed, drawing in deep gasps of air as she listened to Hermione and Ginny doing the same thing. "So . . . what is so funny?" Cassie finally asked.

"Well, I was laughing at Hermione's expression. What were you laughing at?"

"I was laughing at George's telling Ron he could hear everything going up and down the steps. What were you laughing at, Hermione?"

"Ron . . . and his expression was practically a mirrored expression of Harry's. That was what killed me. They both looked like they were a pair of 5 year olds after having just been told there was no Santa Claus." She was silent for a minute. "Although I probably didn't look much happier. Darn it. I wasn't ready to be done kissing him. We were having a great time." She sighed.

Ginny sighed, too. "Yeah, Harry and I were having a great time, too. Although the kitchen isn't a very good place for a long snogging session. No soft furniture to cuddle on." She leaned up on her elbow and looked over at Cassie. "Where were you two? In here?"

"No!"

"Where then?"

"Uh . . . I better not say."

"You were so in here."

"No we weren't. Honestly. It's just George calls it his secret place and I think he'd be mad if I gave it away."

"George has a secret place? In this house?" Cassie nodded. "Impossible. I know every square inch of this house. There can't be a secret place."

"Yes, there is." Ginny looked at her suspiciously.

"I need a hint."

"No. Stop asking." She stood up and walked to her own bed. "We were having a great time, though. He's a great kisser." Ginny made a groaning noise and covered her ears with her hands..

"I do not want to hear any details. I thought we'd been through this already!" Hermione hit her with a pillow and after an abbreviated pillow fight between the two of them, Hermione flopped down on her own bed and sighed again.

"I can't sleep. I'm so excited! But I've got to tell my parents - they're going to die!"

"They won't be happy for you?" Cassie slipped her nightshirt over her head, smiling to herself as she remembered unbuttoning George's shirt earlier this evening.

"Well, I don't really know. They love Ron and they know I love him. But, I am only 17, and just barely at that. My parents really wanted me to go to college. They'll be disappointed if I don't."

"Do they have colleges for wizards?" Cassie felt kind of stupid asking that but she didn't remember the subject ever coming up before.

"No, not really. It's more sort of a technical training. Like if you want to be a healer . . . Well, you go to Healer school, like Angelina does. And if you want to be an Auror, you go to Auror training. I think they were hoping I'd go to Muggle college." Cassie raised a questioning eyebrow and Hermione laughed. "I think you learned that from George. Yeah, I know. It seems dumb to me . . . but they wanted me to have all sorts of opportunities, you know, not box myself into any one thing. And marriage . . . well, they won't be happy."

"Well, can't you be married and still go to school?"

"Yeah, of course, in theory. But you know that doesn't always work out." Hermione stared down at the ring on her finger and twisted it. "And Muggle school would be out of the question. Can you imagine my introducing Ron to --"

"Oh, please, Hermione. It already was. You told me months ago that you would never go to the college where your parents want you to go. You said you couldn't very well sit there and learn science and physics and things when they had everything totally wrong."

"That's true. I did say that, Ginny. It's just . . . oh, they're just going to die. How am I going to tell them, anyway? Should I send an owl? That seems a bit impersonal. But I can't call them through the floo. They hate that." She sounded flustered, very different from her normal self. It was obvious to Cassie that she had really been thrown for a loop by Ron's proposal.

"Just apparate there and tell them in the morning. You're making it more difficult than it has to be." Ginny laid down on her own bed and stared at the ceiling.

Cassie rolled onto her side and looked at Hermione. "Yeah. Ginny's right. If you love him, then it really doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. You should just go ahead and marry him. You can wait until you turn 18 if that will make them feel better. But do what makes the two of you happy. After all, you're the ones that have to live your lives, not anyone else." Cassie thought that it was rather ironic she was lecturing Hermione on ignoring everyone else's opinions considering how much she herself was worrying about her parents. Of course, their situations were quite different. After all, Hermione was a witch and it was only right that she should marry a wizard. How old she was wasn't really that important.

"You're both right. No use worrying about it now. I'll tell them in the morning and then we'll see what happens." She extinguished the lights and all three of them laid there quietly, thinking their own thoughts. For the first time in a long while, Cassie reached into the bedside table drawer and pulled out her Falcons sticker. She missed George terribly and wanted him to know it. Falling asleep on his lap the night before had been very nice (even though she had been drugged) and she wished he was holding her again. After a few moments, her sticker got warm. She knew he was holding his and it made her feel a lot better. She curled up in a little ball and went to sleep, wondering what the first day of the new year would bring.

The next morning was late starting for both Ginny and Cassie. The weak winter sun was already up when they woke up almost at the same time. They both laughed as their eyes met across Hermione's bed. She was already up and gone, her bed made and her area straightened up. "I don't think that girl has it in her to sleep late," said Ginny. "Even if it is a holiday."

"Well, I don't really blame her. She was supposed to go see her parents, remember? I bet she's really nervous." They both got up and went down the hall to the bathroom. Cassie hurried through her shower and just pulled her hair back into a quick ponytail. She was quite anxious to get downstairs to see George again. When she got down to the kitchen, though, she was disappointed because there was no one around to see. Molly had at least been up as there was a large platter of eggs and bacon on the table, warmed undoubtedly by some sort of charm but she was not in the kitchen at the moment. She felt guilty because she hadn't been helping Molly very much with the cooking. Yesterday, she had had a decent excuse but she acknowledged that lately she had been rather lazy. She held off eating, waiting for Ginny to come downstairs so they could eat together. After she had been there a few minutes, a flushed-faced Hermione appeared suddenly in the kitchen, followed almost immediately by Ron, who was pale and sweating. When she saw Cassie, she squealed and pulled her into a hug, which was so un-Hermione-like that Cassie was momentarily taken aback.

"Hi. I take it the visit went well?"

"They already knew he was going to ask me! He had told them when we were there on Boxing Day! I just can't believe that he went to all the trouble to ask my dad's permission and everything." Ron was quickly regaining color in his cheeks and tried to look sophisticated. Cassie didn't let him know that she knew how terrified he really had been.

"I wanted to do everything right by you, Hermione. And I didn't want your parents to kill me either - that was somewhat important." Hermione laughed and hugged him.

"Well, anyway, they were okay with it, really. Mum cried a lot and Dad lectured, but it was a better reaction than I thought I would get. I thought they'd faint and try to strangle Ron."

"Your parents like me!" Ron countered. "Although your dad keeps saying I have a lot of potential. I think I should be slightly offended at that." Both Hermione and Cassie laughed and they heard Ginny's giggle as she descended the stairs.

"I don't blame him. It's hardly as though you've arrived, Ron. You're still in school. And you haven't yet decided how you're going to support the two of you." Ron flushed.

"I'll manage."

Ginny smiled fondly at him and Cassie saw the loving look Ron gave her back. "I never doubted you would, big brother. If I did, I'd have told Hermione a long time ago to stay far away from you." All four of them sat down to eat breakfast and they were joined partway through by Harry, who apparently could sleep very late if Ron didn't wake him in the morning.

"Where is everybody?" Cassie asked as they finished their breakfast and Ginny and Hermione set the dishes to wash while Harry dried.

"Don't know. But I'm sure they're around somewhere." A few minutes later, the kitchen door opened and George, Fred, Charlie, Bill, and Tonks all came through it, holding their brooms. Cassie realized they had been out flying and felt jealous that George hadn't come to get her up so she could go, too.

"Good morning, sweetheart." George wrapped his arms around her and Ginny laughingly took the washcloth Cassie had been washing the table with away from her so she could hug him back. "I tried to come wake you up this morning, but someone had put a silencing charm on the door and it was locked. I thought about breaking in, but decided not to." Ginny's eyes went very round and wide and she turned back to the dishes rather quickly. Cassie just shook her head.

"Yeah. Too bad, though. I would have loved to go flying." She was just about to ask where Arthur and Molly were when they apparated into the middle of the kitchen, looking a little surprised at the large gathering they came into the middle of.

"Hello, everyone." Greetings were exchanged and most of the windswept group headed upstairs to put their brooms away.

"Where have you been, Mum?" Molly was hugging Ron and Hermione and then Harry, Cassie, and Ginny.

"Er-, well, uh . . . ." Arthur interrupted her.

"We've actually been to see your parents. I thought we'd better keep them updated on what happened yesterday and what's new. They're very anxious to get you back with them."

"Are they all right?"

"Yes. And very comfortable. You don't need to worry about them. That's what they said, too." Cassie wanted to ask again where they were but decided against it. If they were all right, that was the important thing. "What do you think is going to happen next, Arthur? Why am I still here?"

"We, uh, the members of the Order, all feel that you are still in some danger and will be until the members of the conspiracy are arrested."

"So, when can they be arrested?"

Arthur looked vaguely distressed at this question. "This afternoon we're having a meeting and we're going to discuss some options then. I believe Madam Bones could have them arrested at any time. But, we need two things. The first is evidence that will keep them in prison and the second is the name of that that ninth wizard."

"And you think somehow I can provide either or both of those things?" Cassie asked with some dismay. She had hoped that once her memory had been fully explored she would be safe and free to leave. Now it sounded like it might be a long process before things were finally resolved.

"Albus thinks so. I told your parents as much."

"How, though? I thought-"

"I don't really know for sure. I think the best thing is just to wait for Albus to tell us if he has any ideas. When we left him yesterday morning, he was still thinking about how we could do this with minimal fuss."

"I don't like this." George grumbled. He was standing right behind Cassie, not touching her but just listening to what his father had to say. "I think Cassie has done more than enough for this. I think we should just let her go home." Arthur looked frustrated.

"I swear that we aren't trying to keep her here hostage or anything. We want her to be able to go home, too. But first we have to make sure she is completely out of danger. If I were to send her home today, as things are right now, I doubt she'd last the day." Cassie blanched and sat down in a nearby chair. That had been rather blunt.

"Do you really-"

"Blackman knows who you are and probably knows you're here. And since he doesn't know about the pensieve yesterday, I would be willing to bet that he still thinks you're the only threat to his involvement in this plot. So, I'll say it again. Albus is working on some sort of idea to get this resolved. Let's please wait until he gets here before we get into full fighting mode, eh George?" Cassie looked up at him and he sighed.

"All right. But I'm telling you right now, and you too, Mum. Any brilliant ideas he floats out there had better not pose any danger to her. She's been through enough. So just remind him of that." They both nodded, apparently resigned, but they didn't answer him and Cassie strongly suspected that they both knew something they weren't saying. Her stomach did a nervous flip and she wondered when exactly this meeting was going to take place.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon passed with excruciating slowness for Cassie. She played games with the others and listened to dragon stories from Charlie, helped Molly with lunch, went for a long walk with Ginny and Hermione as she started thinking about wedding plans, and watched Ron beat Harry once again at chess. But her mind was elsewhere and it was almost with relief that she heard Arthur announce that they all had to get out of the living room because other Order members were going to be arriving soon and they would need the space. Cassie fully expected to be invited to stay for the meeting but she found herself sitting in the girls' bedroom with the other underage witches and wizards, waiting for news to come up from downstairs.

"The meeting is about me, I think. I should at least be allowed to listen." Harry laughed.

"That'll be the day. You'd have a better chance if it wasn't about you. Trust me, I know." He scowled. "And I'm 17 now and everything. And notice I'm still not invited."

"Tell me about it, mate," said Ron. "If age mattered, we'd all be down there."

"Except for Cassie and me. So I'm just as happy you're all still stuck here with us." Ginny hugged Harry and kissed him on the cheek. He flushed and Cassie felt even more aggravated. She didn't even have George to hug while she waited. The first hour, she listened with some detachment to the other four talking. They were discussing upcoming N.E.W.T. exams and Hermione was trying to get them to organize some sort of a study schedule. This was an old, well-worn conversation and Cassie didn't pay that much attention. Ginny participated indirectly, mainly lobbying for more free time for Harry as he was going to be busy with so many other things. In the end, nothing was resolved but Hermione even ran out of steam. The next half hour, they all just sat there, sort of looking at each other, waiting for the meeting to be over. By then, they were all so antsy and that Ginny suggested sneaking downstairs with Cassie's pair of extendable ears and trying to hear what was going on. However, Hermione was dead set against that idea and before the rest of them could really talk her into going along with it, George stuck his head into the room.

"Dumbledore wants to speak to you, Cassie. The meeting is over." Cassie tried to read his expression as she took his hand and they walked down the stairs together. But it was set and he wasn't giving anything away. His eyes weren't smiling and his jaw looked tight, like he had held it that way for a long time. His grip on her hand was firm but kind. He stopped her in the kitchen, before they went into the living room. "I just want you to know that you don't have to do this. Don't let them pressure you." But before she could even ask what he was talking about, he stepped through into the room. She followed right behind him, sure that whatever was going to be discussed was not going to be pleasant.

Professor Dumbledore was sitting there, along with Arthur. Cassie was surprised. She had expected that most of the group would have stayed.

"Miss Robinson, Happy New Year."

"Thank you, Professor. The same to you." He smiled and her and indicated a place on the couch.

"Why don't you sit down? We have quite a few things to discuss." She sat and George sat down by her. He took her hand again and squeezed it in support.

"First of all, I want to thank you again for your bravery yesterday. You really impressed Amelia and Vivian and even though they were not exactly thrilled at what they saw in the memory, they are very pleased that it was so clear and irrefutable. However, as you know, we were all very disappointed that we were unable to ascertain the identity of the ninth wizard."

"He's not the guy in charge, is he?"

"No. That is Lucius, of course, although we feel that he must be important because they were waiting until he arrived to actually start discussing new business. However, we certainly saw enough evidence and heard enough of what they were discussing to convict all eight of them under various charges and keep them in prison for a very long time."

"That's good."

"Yes." He steepled his fingers together and put them under his chin. His blue eyes settled on her face and she squirmed slightly. Whenever he looked at her that way, she always felt like he was peering into her soul. "Let me explain briefly about the way the Wizarding justice system works. I'm not going to try to say whether or not I think it should change, I'm just going to explain how it is at this point in time." Cassie nodded but felt her stomach do another of those annoying somersaults. He looked so grave that she knew this could not be leading up to anything pleasant. "It is very similar to the way English laws are set up. When someone is accused of violating the law, evidence has to be presented to a jury, who then weigh the evidence and decide that person's guilt or innocence." Cassie nodded again and hoped she didn't look like an idiot. "But, because of our special circumstances, the laws are extremely strict in how we obtain evidence. Magic is . . . well, it's powerful enough to coerce people into doing all sorts of things, including incriminating themselves when they actually didn't do anything wrong, etc. So the use of magic to secure witness testimony is highly regulated. Does that make sense to you?"

"Yes, I think so. I can definitely see how that would be a problem."

"The use of veritaserum is particularly problematic, because although most wizards are compelled to tell the truth completely under its force, the strength of the potion can vary, and it can be actually resisted by someone who has trained himself to do it. So, we have a law in place that, to break it down to its most basic form, simply says that there must be multiple individuals who accuse someone under veritaserum before that person can even be questioned - at least three, preferably more. And even then, the court is free to dismiss that as evidence, if they wish to. But, of course, the more witnesses that confirm it, the more likely they are to allow it."

"I don't understand what this has to do with me, though."

"We need to identify this ninth wizard. If he is certain that all eight are going to be arrested and questions with veritaserum on the strength of your testimony, then he is certainly going to know that he will be named by enough of them that he will also be arrested."

"Okay."

"If, on the other hand, you are not available to testify or can only identify two or three of the men there that night, then he will be safe."

"I'm still confused." She looked at George hoping for clarification, but he shook his head briefly and she turned back to Professor Dumbledore. "You know all eight. Arrest them, I'll testify against them, and then you can force them to drink the veritaserum, tell the truth about the ninth wizard, and then you can arrest him and everything is taken care of."

"But that is what I am saying. We have no direct evidence against him, only the word of eight other accused men, who are only accused, may I add, through the memories of a very young and frightened Muggle girl. It is almost certain that their forced testimonies will be dismissed immediately and never allowed into evidence against the ninth and he will go free."

"But so what?" George finally asked. "This is what I really do not understand. Cassie could not care less about whether the ninth guy is arrested. If she is no threat to him, she is in no danger. Arrest the other eight, just like you had planned to do in the beginning, and let her go home. If they get out of prison or never find the other wizard, then what difference does it make? They won't try to kill her then. They will already be accused and under suspicion and they'd have to reason to hurt her."

"I think the word we have to use here, George," said Dumbledore bluntly, looking directly at him, "is revenge. These are all powerful men - high up in their chosen careers. I think you are ascribing to them too much of a virtue called restraint. If any of them, even one or two, were publicly humiliated, disgraced, fired, whatever happened to them but they were let out of prison to pick up the shattered pieces of their lives, who do you think they would turn on? And as for the ninth, well, all I can say is that he is most likely not going to let there be even a chance that she could remember something that would convict him. I firmly believe, and Arthur does as well, that if any of the nine of them are free, they will hunt her down and kill her. It would not take very much motivation on their part. She's a 16-year-old Muggle girl with no way of defending herself. I think if we move quickly now to make sure that all the evidence is in place to convict them and get all of them at once, we will be doing the best thing for her."

"But I don't like the plan you have set up. It's too dangerous."

"It is dangerous. I will admit it. But I am sure we can put enough safeguards in place that she will not be under any extreme threat."

"What is the plan, exactly?" George scowled, but Cassie squeezed his hand. "I want to at least know. Then I can decide."

"Quite simply, we want to set a trap. And you are the bait."

"Oh."

"We would let all nine of them know that on Saturday you will be putting your memory into the pensieve and ministry officials will be there to view it. Since they are now all convinced that you are a witch, they will not think anything unusual about that at all. They will almost certainly come to stop that from happening and to kill you when you are vulnerable. We will have guards in place to protect you, of course, and to fight against them and arrest them when they come. Once the ninth wizard is identified, we bring you back here. Within a few hours, you should be able to go home."

"That sounds straightforward enough."

"I think so. Are you willing to do it?"

"Well, I'd like to know a bit more about what's going to happen. I don't have to really use the pensieve again, do I?"

"No. Not at all. We will have a shadow of the memory there, enough to convince anyone who was curious about it that it was actually in there, but you wouldn't need to drink the potion again or anything."

"That's good."

"I just want to you to know, Cassie, you don't have to do this. You really don't."

"No, Professor Dumbledore is right. I would still be in danger if I didn't. And even more than that, all of you would be in danger. If one of them is still free, he could reorganize and try to get you all arrested or killed again. I need to do everything I can to make sure that they are not allowed to do that."

"We can-"

"No, George. Don't try to talk me out of it. I think this is the best idea."

They spoke altogether for more than an hour. Professor Dumbledore laid out his plan and by the end, Cassie knew that this is what she would have to do. She had to end it. It had gone on long enough and put enough people into danger. She was anxious to have it happen and wished that it could be the next day rather than on Saturday, but she realized that it would take some time to get the message out to the nine wizards in a completely realistic way and that it would also take some time to get the place ready where everything was supposed to happen.

"That has posed one of the biggest problems," Professor Dumbledore had explained. It has to be secure enough that we have control over who comes in and how they come in, but not so secure that they can't even make the approach. But they have to be convinced that we really want to keep you safe but that it is worth making the attempt to come after you. We have settled on an old family estate in Hogsmeade. We will be working tonight and tomorrow to strengthen the wards but leave enough holes in the defense that they will be able to come through."

They weren't even going to approach the Aurors about the situation. Her protection would be completely in the hands of Order members, which made Cassie feel somewhat better. Amelia Bones would make sure to have some of her men there who would be in charge of actually making the arrests. All in all, when Professor Dumbledore finally left and Arthur left Cassie and George alone in the living room to talk, Cassie felt the end to the long struggle was near, that Saturday would finalize things one way or the other.

"Oh, Cassie. I really hate this idea. I really do. I wish we could do something else."

"It doesn't sound so bad. I just have to sit in a room and pretend that I'm about ready to put my memory of that night into Professor Dumbledore's pensieve. And you're going to be with me, right?" She forced a smile, and clasped her hands together to hide their trembling.

"Of course. They couldn't force me to be anywhere else."

"Well, then, see? I have nothing to worry about." George just laughed and pulled her close, and kissed her forehead.

"I wish I thought it was going to be that easy."

"It will be. That's all I'm going to have to do. You just stay by me, and I'll be perfectly safe." But despite all her reassurances to him that she knew she would be safe, Cassie knew that what was going to happen was very dangerous and that if one of the bad wizards had a chance to even point a wand in her direction with the intention of killing her, she didn't stand much of a chance of ever walking off the grounds.

The rest of the afternoon, evening, and the next day passed quickly. Cassie watched everyone else going about their usual business, laughing, eating, reading, teasing, but she felt insulated from it somehow, like it was all happening far away from her. George seemed to feel the same way and the two of them clung to each other at odd moments like they were incapable of letting go. She imagined she answered questions, ate, slept, brushed her teeth, etc., just like always because no one even looked at her funny or asked if she was all right, but she didn't remember doing any of it.

Two things did happen on Friday that Cassie did remember. Amelia Bones dropped by to report that her part of the plan was in place. She had reported to Nicholas Nightscall exactly what Professor Dumbledore had told her to say. She had told him that a young girl had witnessed this meeting and that they were going to view her memory of the event on Saturday morning. She also told him that she would be in charge of protecting Cassie and was also careful to go over security arrangements with him.

"He played the role perfectly, Arthur, I have to say. He seemed mildly interested but not too much. He asked the right questions and if I didn't know for a fact that he was slurping up every word I said, I would have thought he was being the perfect bureaucrat." She had not mentioned the Order members there, of course, making it sound like it was simple ministry business and that she had no idea which men would actually be identified. "I told him that I wasn't sure it would work at all, but that if it did, I would certainly report back to him with all the pertinent facts." Cassie nodded and smiled at the older woman and reassured her that she wasn't worried at all, that she was positive Professor Dumbledore had everything under control.

Professor Dumbledore also dropped by Friday evening to go over arrangements one more time. He reassured both George and Cassie that things were going to be fine and that by noon on Saturday, everything would be completely taken care of. She expected him to give her a portkey, but wasn't really surprised when he told her he couldn't. "We don't want anyone portkeying into the estate, so we're not allowing anyone in or out that way or through apparating."

"But certainly you can make one for her." George was incredulous as he stared at the Headmaster. "You can portkey into Hogwarts for hell's sake!"

"You can portkey into certain rooms at Hogwarts - not into anywhere in the castle. It's a security measure that we do feel very strongly about. We have no idea who the ninth wizard is, but we cannot risk his portkeying directly to Miss Robinson and then taking her away. That would be disastrous. No, it is better this way. They would have to physically remove her from the house and I can guarantee that that won't happen." Cassie also said she understood him and that she wasn't worried. She felt a strange sense of calm overtake her, like she could see what was going to happen but could do nothing to stop it or change it and so just had to accept the inevitable.

Cassie also remembered kissing George good night on Friday and remembered laying in bed staring at the dark for a long time before she finally fell asleep, going over things in her mind and making some decisions she had been putting off for a long while.

Saturday morning she woke early, showered, and dressed like she was on autopilot. She went back into Ginny's room and pulled out her book Hogwarts a History. It would make a perfect writing surface. She then took out a quill and some parchment and wrote a letter to her parents. She wanted them to know, if something did go wrong, how much she loved them and how proud she was of what they had done to help in a fight that was not even their own. She also included short notes for both her brothers, telling them how much she loved each of them and how they always needed to be good for their parents and how they needed to be good to each other.

She then wrote a short note to Harry, telling him that if she was hurt, he was not to blame himself, that she had made her own choices for her own reasons and that what had happened between the two of them had very little to do with it, other than the fact that he had introduced her to magic at all. "And I don't regret that Harry. I never would and never will. All those months ago, in Professor Dumbledore's office, I decided that I needed to fight the evil, too. I didn't know at the time that this would be a literal thing, but that's how it has turned out and it doesn't change my mind about anything. I just want you to understand that." She wished him the best of everything and that she would be pulling for him in his fight against Voldemort.

"I don't know, Harry, how things will be after we die. But if I get there and get to see your parents and Sirius Black, I will tell them what a great guy you are and how proud they should be of you. And I will talk to whomever is in charge and tell them that they need to send all sorts of help your way because you deserve it. So, maybe I can help more there then I could here. I can be pretty persuasive. I love you, Harry. Don't ever forget that." She folded that piece of parchment and stacked it on the other one.

Then she got a fresh clean one and started the hardest letter, the one to George. She did not imagine for a moment that George would ever allow her to be hurt or killed while he stood by and watched. No, he would undoubtedly sacrifice himself for her sake if he had to. However, she also knew that things happened in fights. Things you didn't expect. And there was a very real possibility that when all the dust had settled that she wouldn't be coming back and he would. She told him in the letter how much she loved him and that he should never blame himself or anyone else for what happened because she never would. "I do love you, George, with every bit of my heart and soul. You have become a part of me, now, and no matter what happens, that will never change. I'll be watching over you from heaven and I want you to be happy. That's the most important thing. You may meet someone else who you fall in love with, and that would be all right. I wouldn't be mad or anything. I would want to make sure that you have lots of little red-haired babies who give you just as bad of a time as you gave Arthur and Molly." She finished the note and folded it carefully after letting the ink dry for a few moments, then wrote "To George" on the outside. Then she took all three parchments and put them into her trunk with a note on top saying that they were only to be opened if she didn't come back from this today.

She closed the trunk carefully and then slipped her Hogwarts robe over her clothes. She took her wand from the night stand and put it into the pocket in her left sleeve. Professor Dumbledore had told her she was to look the part of a witch today for the men coming to kill her. She checked her appearance in the mirror and was surprised to see that she actually looked fairly normal. Her coloring was a bit high, but she didn't expect that anyone else would notice. No, she would continue to act like she was positive this was just a lark, a formality that had to be done before the entire thing was wrapped up and she could go back home. She would be the only one who knew how absolutely terrified she really was. She sat carefully down on her bed to wait. She didn't have to sit for long. The knock was not very loud, but to her, it sounded like a gunshot. It was time to go. 


	72. The Trap is Set and Sprung

Thanks for your patience. I hope it was worth the wait.

Chapter 72  
The Trap is Set and Sprung

Cassie opened the door, quickly putting her hands into her pockets. George smiled down at her and she, to her great surprise, found herself smiling back at him. "Are you about ready?" She nodded and when he gestured to take her hand, she drew it out of her pocket and placed it into his much larger one. He either didn't notice the trembling or didn't think too much about it, because he didn't make any comment. The downstairs was dark and silent and Cassie looked around the kitchen but made no comment. "What would you like for breakfast? I'll make anything you'd like."

"No, thank you. Are you going to eat?"

"I guess. Maybe just some toast." He made her some, too, and even though she really didn't feel like it, she wound up taking a piece. They both ate silently. Cassie kept thinking that she should talk to him, ask him questions, tell him important things, but she couldn't seem to make the words come out, so instead she just studied the way his hair curled over his ears and the way his one eyebrow wasn't quite symmetrical. It had a scar running through it, not much of one, but it was there and the end of it was not quite even with the rest. She watched him butter his toast and chew. He looked up a few times, meeting her eyes, but he didn't say anything. She ate half a piece of toast and then couldn't eat any more. He didn't say anything about her lack of appetite either, just took a kitchen towel and picked up the portkey Cassie knew they'd be using that morning. There was a noise above their heads and they both looked up to see Harry descending the steps, rubbing his eyes.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing." George looked directly at Harry as he said this, but Harry wasn't fooled.

"She's dressed up and everything. You're taking her somewhere. Where?"

"It's nothing, Harry. Honestly. I just have to go identify the ninth wizard. That's all." Cassie's voice held pretty steady and she didn't think he would detect the tremor at the end.

"They've always brought you pictures before. Why are you going so early and where are you going? Why aren't they coming here with the pictures?"

Cassie and George's eyes met and it was George who answered him. "We don't know who the ninth one is yet, Harry. We're going to go find out now." Harry looked at George for a second and Cassie could almost see the wheels turning in his head.

"No. No. You're setting a trap. You're using her as bait." Cassie nodded briefly and George took her hand.

"That's basically it."

"Are you insane! There's no way you can put her in that kind of danger!" Harry stepped closer to Cassie and she thought he was about to grab her arm.

"She's not in any danger" came out at the same time as "I'm not in any danger." But Harry looked at both of them with narrowed eyes.

"What does she have to do?"

"Nothing. Just sit in a room and look thoughtful. Like she's about to use the pensieve." Harry shook his head.

"I don't like this idea. I don't like it at all." George scowled deeply.

"This is rather ironic. I was absolutely against the idea at the beginning, too, and here I am defending it to you. But she knows the plan and she's agreed to it." Harry shook his head again.

"That's not a recommendation. She is completely careless about her own safety."

Cassie grabbed George's arm. "I am not."

"You're not doing this, Cassie."

"Harry . . . I hate to say it, but you can't tell me what I can and cannot do." Harry glared at her for a minute.

"I can tell you that this is crazy. There has to be some other way."

"Harry. Her parents are in danger. You know that. She wants it over. We're taking all kinds of precautions, she won't be in any danger."

"Can't you just wait a few more days and see what happens? What's the rush?"

"No offense, Harry. But it's not your life that is completely screwed up!" As soon as the words were out of Cassie's mouth, she wanted to take them back. Harry glared at George, who stiffened and glared back. "I'm sorry I -"

But they were ignoring her. "Will you at least tell me what's going on?"

"No. I don't think I should."

"Where is all this happening? When will she be back?"

"It's all supposed to happen at 11. I'll have her back here by noon. I swear it."

"Eleven?! It's only 8:30 now!"

"I know. We want to have plenty of time to make sure everything is in place to protect her. We need to go. They'll start to wonder."

"You haven't told me where this big event is actually happening."

"No. And I'm not going to. I don't want you following us." George took Cassie's hand and pulled her close to him, getting ready to portkey with her. "But I will tell you this, Harry. I will not let her out of my sight. I promise." And then he took the portkey from the dish towel and they were gone.

They landed on the frozen ground and the cold seeped through her thin robes and thin shoes almost instantly. Cassie took a deep breath and felt the frigid air fill her lungs. Even if they had not told her in advance, she would have known she was back in northern Scotland. The cold here just penetrated to the bones, really. "Ooh. It's cold. Where are we?" The house they were standing in front of did not look familiar at all. It was a very old building, she didn't have to be told that. The stone which was probably once a dark black was now a washed-out gray color, with dry, bare strands of ivy covering several of the walls. The windows were dark, no welcoming glow shining through them to assure her they were in the right location.

"Outside of Hogsmeade, like we said. See, there's the town." She turned and looked behind her. Despite her steadily increasing fear, she smiled. The town with its old-fashioned looking shops and winding streets looked empty in the brittle sunlight.

"I like Hogsmeade. Sometime, I want you to bring me back here."

"Of course. We'll have to kiss again behind Honeyduke's. That was nice, huh?"

"Very nice. The whole day was so wonderful." Cassie smiled and bit back the tears she could feel in the back of her throat. She wanted to remember those happy times for a few minutes and did not want to give in to her fright.

"Come on. You're getting cold." He led her through the front gate and up the slippery stone steps. He knocked on the door three times in some sort of complicated rhythm that Cassie didn't recognize but a moment later, it swung inward and Arthur glanced out at them.

"Where have you been? I was starting to get worried."

"Sorry. We ran into a little delay."

"Any problems?" George shook his head and didn't tell Arthur about Harry. "Good morning, Cassie. Are you ready for this?"

"I don't know. Yeah, I guess so. It'll be easy, right?"

"Of course. We want to make sure that you know exactly what's going on and what you need to do. So, Albus will be down soon to talk to you. He's taking care of the Pensieve at the moment."

"All right. Who lives here?"

"Nobody, actually. The house has been vacant for many years. It used to belong to the McKinnons."

"McKinnons?" George asked. "I wondered what had ever become of their property."

"Most of it was willed to Albus and the Order. This house particularly was meant to be used for purposes like this."

"Who are the McKinnons?"

"They were members of the Order, well most of them were. They were all killed. Shortly before Harry's parents, actually. Good family. I went to school with-"

"Ah, Miss Robinson! Welcome!" His voice was quiet, but commanding, and Arthur immediately stopped talking. Cassie looked up and saw Professor Dumbledore standing at the top of a long curving staircase. It was, like the rest of the house, very elegant and spoke of large amounts of money. But everything was also very dingy and dusty and looked rather faded, like the outside. It made sense that it had stood empty for nearly 20 years. Considering that, it didn't look bad.

"Hello." She smiled faintly.

"I'm glad you're here. We'd like you to meet the Order members who are here to help today and we want to go over the plans again." Cassie just nodded. "Why don't you come into the sitting room?" He descended the stairs and led her into a small room off the front hall. There were only three pieces of furniture in the room, a dainty-looking couch with spindly legs and two matching chairs. Small puffs of dust rose with every step onto the carpet but the furniture was clean and she sat down on the couch. George sat down by her and patted her knee gently.

Professor Dumbledore guided the Order members into the room in small groups, 2-3 at a time. The first ones in were Remus, Tonks, and Kingsley Shacklebolt who explained that they would be guarding the front door and the hall. "Do you think they'll all come at once? I mean, if one of them comes first, before the others, what will you do?"

"We'll restrain him and hide him so that none of his friends know what has happened to him. Don't worry. We've dealt with these sorts of situations plenty of times before."

"Thanks." The next group was also composed of people she knew: Molly and Mad-Eye Moody explained that they would be guarding the back door and would be helping with restraining anyone else in the house. "Are you going to be able to arrest them or something?"

"We don't have authority to do that. But Amelia Bones does, and she will be here soon." That was interesting. Cassie really couldn't picture the witch she had met three days ago running around arresting a large number of rampaging wizards, but realized that with magic, her relatively small size would not matter. And she had liked Madam Bones. More importantly, she trusted her. That's what she needed today, people around her she trusted.

Mundungus Fletcher was next, along with a young woman Cassie had never met before, Sage. Cassie couldn't catch her last name and figured it didn't really matter. She seemed unfazed by Mundungus and actually stood quite close to him during the introductions. Cassie thought that either proved her bravery or that she simply had no sense of smell, because as usual Mundungus had a cloud of smoke hanging around him like a dark aura. They explained they would be at the top of the stairs, shooting down spells and curses on anyone unauthorized to climb up to her in the library.

Hestia Jones came in with a tall lanky man, maybe 25 years old, with dark hair and laughing brown eyes. His name was Galileo Podmore, which Cassie thought might explain the laughing eyes. With a name like that, he'd have to laugh at himself, at least a little bit. He was friendly and flirted briefly with Cassie before George shot him the death glare at which point he backed off quickly. Hestia greeted Cassie warmly and explained that the two of them would be guarding her in the library where this was going to actually take place. "We are under strict instructions never to take our eyes off you. So you don't need to worry." Cassie actually did feel better knowing that. She had liked Hestia the one time she met her and this other fellow seemed friendly enough. George growled under his breath, but didn't argue.

Galileo's uncle was next on tap. Sturgis. Well, maybe Galileo wasn't a bad name in that family. Sturgis explained that he would be in the room next door to the library and would be able to hear everything going on if there was trouble. That made Cassie feel better. He was very nice and Cassie decided that she really liked him, despite his bizarre name. He had a great sense of humor and he and George were teasing each other for a while and that made her relax even further.

Fred was next into the room and was flirting brazenly with his partner, Juliette Morris, who had long black hair and bright blue eyes. George and Cassie both gave him questioning looks, but neither of them felt like confronting him with the fact that he was practically an engaged man and shouldn't be looking at other women. Fred gleefully informed his twin that they were assigned to patrol the dark basement and that Juliette was very friendly. George just shot him a disgusted look, which then made Cassie not feel so bad when Juliette tripped over her foot, which was "accidentally" sticking out a bit far from the settee. Cassie didn't like her although she knew logically that they should not hold Fred's flirtatious ways against the girls within a mile radius of him. Cassie had to admit that she couldn't blame anyone who thought George and Fred were cute. She certainly did.

Professor McGonagall came in to see her again and explained that she and Professor Dumbledore would be patrolling the outside, making sure the wards were holding up and keeping an eye out for the "visitors" they were expecting. Cassie was happy to know that the two of them would be helping out in her defense. They both had very powerful magic and would be able to help a great deal no matter who came this morning.

Arthur came in at the end to introduce his partner, another young man Cassie had never met. Arthur announced that their job was to defend the bottom of the stairwells and make sure that no one went up them and also to duck out of the way of any spells miscast by Mundungus. Cassie laughed but George sat stiffly next to her. Cassie looked over in confusion and saw the look of hatred that passed between George and the other young wizard, David Ashenhurst. She felt a shudder of dislike for the newcomer wriggle down her spine but tried to suppress it. She took George's hand and squeezed. Arthur explained to both of them that all the Order members knew her real story and were prepared to guard her with their lives if necessary. Cassie was surprised, but realized that it only made sense. They would have to know she was not capable of even the simplest spells so that they could defend her properly. He looked over at Professor Dumbledore and indicated that they needed to talk outside and then he looked at the three young people.

"I'll leave you three alone. I imagine that you and George have a lot of catching up to do. I always love to run into people I knew at school. It just takes me back." He was smiling vaguely as the two of them left the room. Cassie watched them go with an increasing feeling of dread.

"Ashenhurst."

"Weasley."

"I take it you two know each other." Cassie tried to prompt a more friendly discussion but George's next answer was terse.

"We went to school together."

"Were you in Gryffindor?" Cassie gamely tried once again to lighten the mood, even though her nerves were extremely on edge at the moment.

"No. Ravenclaw. I was a year ahead of the two of them."

"Oh. Uh, well. It's nice to meet you. I like the Ravenclaws."

"I hardly need a Muggle's endorsement of my house." And then he turned and walked out of the room. Cassie sat there, feeling like she had just been slapped.

"I don't like him."

"Yeah, I can empathize. We never got along. He was on the Quidditch team. He resented both Fred and me because we usually told the Ravenclaw team exactly what was what when it came to actual skill on the pitch." Cassie grinned.

"So. He's jealous of you."

"I guess. I don't know. All I do know is that he is still holding a grudge, after all these years. I really don't like the idea of his being here. He does good work in the Order. I'll admit that. But I wanted people I could trust to be with you."

"I know. But he is here this morning, and as long as he's willing to be here to defend me, at least he's a warm body."

"Yeah. Okay. I'll try not to bite him." Cassie laughed and George smiled, pulling her into his arms and kissing her forehead. "Are you still doing all right with this? Do you have any concerns or anything? Do you still want to go through with this?"

Cassie nodded but before she could say anything else, Professor Dumbledore entered the room again. "Let's go ahead and take you upstairs to the library. We'll show you the safety measures we've got in place there and by then, Madam Bones should be here and we can discuss what she needs to have happen in order to get the right sort of evidence against this man. Cassie nodded at him, too, and she, George, Arthur, and Professor Dumbledore all went up the steep staircase a moment later. As Cassie surveyed the room a few minutes later, she understood why they kept calling it a library. Each wall was lined from floor to ceiling with books; there must have been thousands and they all looked very old and very valuable

.  
  
"Does Hermione know about this place?" She asked George, but he was talking to Arthur and didn't hear her question. Of course, she really knew the answer already. Of course she didn't. If she did, they would have, without doubt, spent that entire Saturday of the Hogsmeade visit, sequestered here. She hoped that one day she found out about it. It would keep her happy for at least a decade or two.

Aside from the books, there was also a fairly large table, upon which rested a pensieve. It wasn't the same pensieve she had used earlier, but she guessed that didn't matter. It was still stone and very impressive looking. It was just smaller. There were five chairs around the table and four additional chairs against one bookcase. The room was very warm and inviting and if it hadn't been for her absolute terror about what was going to happen here in the next couple of hours, she thought she would really enjoy spending time here. Hermione wasn't the only one who liked to read, although as these were almost certainly all wizarding books, she probably wouldn't understand very much of the content. Tonks announced loudly from downstairs that Madam Bones had arrived and Professor Dumbledore and Arthur stepped out of the room to meet her. George drew her a bit farther away from the door and lowered his voice so that he could not be heard. "I wanted to give you this." He pressed something into her hand and she looked down with no small amount of surprise to see her Falcons sticker.

"What is this for? How did you get it out of my drawer?"

"I got it out by walking in there and looking for it yesterday when you were busy downstairs. And it's going to be our secret signal."

"But . . . why do we need a secret signal?"

"If anything should happen and you need me, or you're frightened, I'll be sitting right here, of course, but all you need to do is grab your sticker and I'll know immediately."

"Can't I just say something?"

"Maybe. Maybe not." Cassie couldn't imagine why he wanted them to use the stickers, but she nodded and put it into her pocket.

"Okay. Thanks. I'll try not to grab it by mistake. But I may."

"That's okay. I'd rather have several false alarms than miss the important one. So don't worry if you do set it off." Arthur stepped back in a moment later to bring her out to talk to Madam Bones and Cassie dutifully followed him down the stairs. The gray-haired witch peered up through her monacle at Cassie. She was surrounded by six burly-looked guards, all of whom also watched Cassie's (very careful) descent. Cassie almost sighed in relief when she got down the stairs without humiliating herself and falling.

"Miss Robinson? It's lovely to see you again. You recovered sufficiently from Wednesday's experience?"

"Yes. I felt better that afternoon."

"That's good. This should be a simple matter, really. Have they explained what you need to do?"

"Not really. I'm just supposed to sit in the upstairs room with the pensieve and act like I'm waiting for them to come take the memory out. They're supposed to think I'm a witch, so I should play with my wand and do things like that. That's all I know."

"Good. That's basically all you need to do. If and when the eight wizards already identified arrive, they will be allowed to enter the house but then will be arrested, hopefully with very little difficulty. This is my personal law enforcement task force. I rarely use them, but when I do, they are very effective." Cassie could imagine that they were. "Under my direction, they will make sure that the arrests are done properly so that the wizards can be prosecuted. They should be easy. The tricky part is the ninth, of course."

"All right." Cassie wanted to make some profound observation, but couldn't really think of one, so she was just forced to agree and she felt like an idiot.

"Since we have no idea who he is and he may come with several other wizards, we need to get direct evidence of his threatening you or attempting to break into the library to do you bodily harm. That will allow us to arrest him and then once he is in our custody, we can use other means to gather evidence of his part in the conspiracy. I want you to understand that he does not ever have to enter the library and that he really should never do so, but if he does, then the Order members in there have permission to stun him or worse until he can be arrested by my men. Any questions?"

"Do you think just the nine will come?" It hadn't dawned on her until that moment that they might bring reinforcements and the feeling of dread in her stomach increased another notch.

"I couldn't really say. The eight we saw in your memory are very powerful men, capable of recruiting others to come and help them deal with you and still make it seem to be a perfectly legal operation. But, the ninth may also be similarly powerful and may choose to bring only his own recruits and if that is the case, then we will have to wait until he is literally threatening you before we can identify him as the actual one who they were all waiting for that night."

"I see." This information did not really do much to help Cassie feel any better, but she was pleased to note that this was the worst case scenario and that even then she just had to wait for George, Hestia Jones, and Galileo what's-his-name to knock him out. She could do that. Madam Bones and her guards drifted off to another room and Cassie and George both climbed the steps again.

It was almost 10 now according to her watch and she could tell George was getting more anxious as the morning passed. Professor Dumbledore came in and removed a memory from his temple which he then added to the silvery liquid already floating around. He stirred it, muttered something under his breath, and the wavering form of the shop rose from the bowl. Cassie could see the wizards moving along in front of her (him?) and watched as they turned into the door once again. "That is my memory of watching your memory. It would not hold up in a court of law, f course, but it will be enough to fool those we need to fool today." Cassie just nodded as he stirred the bowl's contents again and the shadow of the shop disappeared. "Everyone is getting into position now and hopefully by 10:30, we will be ready for the Ministry." When he left the two of them alone again, George explained that some Ministry officials would be there to witness the memory that was supposedly going to be put into the pensieve. They had been told that she was a witch, hence the robes and the wand.

"If they thought you were a Muggle, they wouldn't even bother to come. And they probably wouldn't trust your memory if they did see it, because this potion Dumbledore used on you is very rare. They would just refuse to believe that a Muggle could use the pensieve at all. So, you need to pretend for just a little longer, okay? Then it will all be over."

"Yes. No problem. I understand." Cassie said the words, but she had never meant them less. She was feeling faint with nerves, now, and hoped that she wouldn't just pass out cold on the floor before the whole thing happened. That would be embarrassing.

A few minutes later, the echo of a loud doorbell echoed through the house and George gripped her shoulder. "That's them. I hope the person we wanted to come, actually came." He stepped out of the room and Cassie could see him looking down over the balcony. "Good. He's here, that will . . . ." His voice stopped and then he swore quite colorfully and ducked into the room again. Cassie looked at him in surprise.

"What's wrong?"

"You'll find out in a minute. I brought this just in case, more for you than me, but I'm going to go ahead and use it." He pulled from his pocket a shimmery piece of fabric that Cassie immediately recognized. She nodded and watched as he sat down and covered himself and the chair he was sitting on with an invisibility cloak. "Just act calm. It'll be all right. Fudge is a . . ." He didn't finish, though, because Arthur was standing at the door escorting a very strange looking man into the room. He was holding a lime green bowler hat in one hand and had on a very old-fashioned looking plaid suit that was about two sizes too large for his frame. He looked like he had lost a lot of weight suddenly and his face was pale with dark shadows under his eyes. Cassie did some quick mental math and realized that it had been three weeks ago today that he had been attacked. She wondered exactly how close to death he had come, because he still looked like it might visit him again anytime.

"Minister, allow me to introduce a friend of the family, Miss, uh Pia Spencer." Cassie was confused and looked at Arthur. She thought everything was out in the open now. She didn't realize she was supposed to be Pia again.

"Yes, yes. Is she the one with the memory?"

"Yes."

"Well, let's get on with this. I'm still not feeling up to snuff. I have no desire to stay here any longer than necessary."

"Er, yes. Albus will be in soon to help with that." Fudge snorted as though he didn't believe it and then he came further into the room, heading for a chair across the table from Cassie. That's when she caught her breath in surprise and realized why Arthur had introduced her that way. She also realized instantly why George had sworn and why he was sitting under the invisibility cloak in the corner of the room. Percy Weasley followed Fudge into the room, bustling importantly to the Minister's side and helping him to sit down. Cassie watched with growing unease. She had been under the impression that Percy had broken ties with Fudge and the Ministry but that was obviously wrong.

She swallowed hard but didn't say anything. She knew that George and Fred both believed Percy had been the one who had betrayed her identity and had indirectly caused her parents to be terrorized so his presence here this morning was not a welcome twist. She imagined that George was wrestling with himself to keep from standing up and strangling his own brother. Arthur, as far as Cassie was aware, did not know anything about their suspicions and seemed to be glad that his third son was here. "Percy, you remember Pia?"

"Yes. I remember her. But I don't understand why she is here today. I was under the impression that this meeting had to do with exposing a plot to kill the Minister of Magic."

"It is. It is all very complex. I think I should allow Albus to explain."

"You mean tell the selective truth, then?" Percy's eyes were cold as they met his father's and Cassie felt another shudder of fear down her spine. She really was not happy Percy was here. She had a sudden feeling that the Order had overlooked something vital - the possibility that the ninth wizard might be someone they let into the mansion themselves. She gulped and let her eyes flick to the corner where George was (theoretically) still sitting but then dragged them back to the surface of the table and pretended to look bored with the entire discussion.

"Arthur? Are you sure the security is good here? I did as you asked and left my guards at home, but I haven't seen any sort of protection." Fudge seemed unaware of the tension in the room and led the conversation away from Percy's question and Cassie breathed a little easier.

"Don't worry, Minister. Everything is very secure. It should just be a few more minutes. I'll let Albus know you are here and wish to go home shortly." Arthur hurried out of the room and Cassie had a feeling that an impromptu meeting would be taking place between him and as many Order members as he could talk to. When the door shut, she thought that Fudge would ask her questions or try to make small talk, but he didn't say anything, didn't even really look at her. Just muttered periodically about needing to get home and occasionally about how he hated waiting for Dumbledore. Cassie did as she had been told and fiddled around with her wand. Percy was looking at her with narrowed eyes and Cassie tried not to squirm.

She was relieved, then, when the younger Podmore and Hestia Jones came into the room before very much longer, shutting the door firmly behind them. Fudge looked very disgruntled that they were not accompanied by Dumbledore but they ignored his scowl and just assured him that Albus was on his way in just a few moments. Galileo looked around for George but when he didn't see him he seemed to take this as a sign that it would be all right to continue the abbreviated flirting from earlier and started chatting at Cassie, making light teasing remarks, trying to get her to smile. She tried to be gracious, but tuned him out as much as possible, concentrating instead on what was going to happen in the next few minutes. He eventually realized that he wasn't going to get a response from her and wandered over to talk to Percy. They knew each other, apparently, judging from what they said to each other. Cassie thought for a moment and realized that this made sense. They were probably no more than four years apart in age at the most, maybe less. If Galileo had attended Hogwarts, it was likely they would have crossed paths at least a few times. Percy didn't seem impressed at this reunion and his answers were terse, bordering on rude. After another few minutes passed, Cassie glanced at her watch. It was almost 11. George thought that whatever was going to happen would happen in the next few minutes and Cassie tried to breathe slowly and not panic.  
  
"I say - How much longer am I expected to sit here waiting? I am still ill. This is not good for me, not at all."

"He's right. I think we should leave, Mr. Fudge. This is really inexcusable." Percy scowled at Cassie, Galileo, and Hestia as though they were personally stopping Professor Dumbledore from coming into the room.

"Oh, now, please. You've only been here 20 minutes. You must understand that we need to protect our witness here. She could be your only chance of knowing what really happened at the Ministry party. And from what she has told us up to this point, we think you will find it very interesting." Hestia spoke calmly, as though unconcerned whether the Minister chose to stay or leave and Cassie supposed she really wasn't. His presence was merely the window dressing to the plot. If he left now, it would make no difference at all to the outcome. Or at least, Cassie thought that was the case. There were so many layers upon layers to this entire scheme that she actually was unsure exactly what the plan involved. She swallowed and tried to match Hestia's expression of disinterest.

"That is why I'm here - but I don't understand why there is all this infernal waiting! Where is Dumbledore?"

"I'm sorry. I don't know."

"Go find him, then!"

"No, sir. He will come when he is ready, sir. And not before." Fudge's pale face flushed and he scowled, hunching down in his chair and looking sulky. But he didn't leave. There was a harried knock on the door and Hestia approached it, wand withdrawn. "Yes?" A password was given through the door and she opened it cautiously. David Ashenhurst entered the room and glanced at its occupants.

"We're under attack. Minister, for your own safety, I think you and your assistant should go to a safe room we have prepared for you."

"Nonsense. Really, this is ridiculous. I'm leaving immediately."

"You won't be able to do that. The wards are powerful and no one can disapparate from inside the house. Please, come with me."

"What about the girl?" Fudge looked at Cassie briefly but she felt no concern for her well-being in his gaze, just a desire to protect the memory that would allow him to know who had attacked him.

"She'll be fine. Your safety is Dumbledore's primary concern. Please, come now." He left with Percy and Fudge in tow. Galileo and Hestia started talking excitedly about who could be attacking but they made no move to leave. They were under strict orders to guard Cassie with their lives and Cassie was grateful. She listened hard for the noises of approaching battle, but didn't hear anything. It was only a few moments later that Ashenhurst returned after again giving the password.

"How's the battle going? How many are here fighting? Who are we fighting?"

"I don't really know. Everything is complete chaos down there. We're really taking a beating. I think there may be more of them than Dumbledore expected. I just wanted you to know. I'll go down and see how things are going." About five minutes passed before he came in again.

"Things are really going badly. I think we should get down there and help as much as possible. Two more wands may make a difference. And George, if you're in here which I think you are, Fred has been seriously hurt and he's calling for you." Cassie caught her breath and could almost feel the sudden tension in the air as George heard that announcement. "He's still under attack and he's hoping you can come help him." Cassie knew that George was debating what to do, so she made his mind up for him.

"Go, George. Go. I'll be fine." George took the cloak off and both Hestia and Galileo stared in surprise at him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. I'm positive. Go. You need to be with Fred."

"Hestia, maybe you should go. No offense, but you've had the most experience fighting. The two of us would probably be better guards for Cassie."

"I'll curse you for mentioning my age later. But I know you're right. You two will be all right?"

"Of course, of course. I don't think they'll even get up here. Go, go!" She left and Galileo sealed the door behind her. Cassie smiled faintly.

"Is it really bad out there?"

"Yes. Very vicious."

"Could you see-"

"No. I couldn't. But I was worrying about Fudge and Weasley so I could only hear the yelling and see the blocked spells flying around." Cassie continued playing with her wand out of nervousness now, wondering what was going on downstairs and praying in her soul that George would not be hurt. So she didn't really register what had happened when she heard the words "Avarda Kedavra" and the following thud of a body hitting the floor. She turned, though, almost instinctively and saw the bright eyes of David Ashenhurst. She looked down at the floor. Galileo Podmore was laying there, the laughter gone from his eyes, his face frozen permanently in shock.

"What-"

"Pity, isn't it? He killed you and then tried to kill me, but I defended myself bravely and accidentally killed him. Such a bright future, gone so terribly wrong. He must have fallen in with the wrong crowd. A traitor in the Order! Imagine the scandal!" Cassie looked between Galileo and David, still expecting him to stand up and laugh and tell her it was all a joke. But when she saw the mad light in David's eyes, she knew it was no joke. He was here to kill her. And it would take exactly half a second for him to do it. She had a sudden clarity of thought and time seemed to slow down. She knew that if she wanted to get out of this room alive, she would have to think quickly and not give up. If she died, she would die fighting, not standing there waiting for the spell to hit her. She reached into her pocket and grabbed the Falcons sticker, praying that George would know this was no false alarm.

"You're a Muggle girl - what a surprise that was! So this . . ." He grabbed the pensieve "was a joke. Muggles can't use them, did you know that? They go insane and you can't get a good memory out of them no matter what. So Dumbledore never intended to take a memory from you! But no matter. I don't care about that. What I want to know, what I want you to tell me, is who you actually saw if you even saw anyone. Imperio!"

Cassie felt the warmth and peace that accompanied this curse and tried to focus her mind on resisting it. But she was caught by surprise and she wasn't able to really get a grip on her will like she had in Remus' class. "Tell me, Muggle! What did you really see in Knockturn Alley that night?"

"I saw wizards, going into a meeting in a shop. I heard them talking." Cassie wanted to keep talking. Every neuron in her brain was telling her to keep talking, but she ignored them as best she could.

"Which wizards?"

"I didn't know any of them. I didn't recognize them at all." The happy feeling was edging away now and instead she just felt the pressure, the drive to do what she was told and she shook her head to try to clear it.

"But you know them now?"

"A few of them. Not all."

"Is that the truth?"

"Yes." Ashenhurst lifted his wand off her and she blinked, pretending to come out of the trance that the Imperious curse induced.

"I don't believe you. You're lying to me. Through Imperious. That's rather interesting. But Dumbledore told us you had identified everyone - well, almost. Imperio! Tell me who you know was there! Now! And don't fight me. Just tell me!"

"Dumbledore was lying. He wanted to make it sound like we were further along in identifying them than we really are. I know Lucius Malfoy now, and Richard Blackman. And Nicholas Nightscall. That's everyone I recognized."

Suddenly there was a pounding on the door and Cassie heard George's panicked voice through the door. "Cassie! Cassie! Are you there? What's going on?"

"The battle can't be over yet! What is he doing back here already? Don't say anything! You're already dead, remember?" Cassie let go of her sticker in her pocket and then, after the Imperious curse was once again lifted off her, she grabbed the sticker again. Ashenhurst muttered a silencing spell and the noisy yelling through the door was gone. Cassie blinked back sudden tears. At least before she had known George was out there. Now there was no indication of his presence at all. It was just her and the madman. And he had a wand. That actually worked. But George was still out there, she knew it. She would just have to survive until he got in here. It couldn't take too long.

"I've never known a Muggle who can resist Imperious. You may think that you can win by keeping the truth from me. But it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter at all. Dumbledore obviously didn't know about me. That's all I care about. The others can take care of themselves." He sat down and drummed his fingers on the table, thinking hard.

"If they're arrested, they'll name you under veritaserum."

"But that's assuming there will be a witness. Which there won't be." He looked at the pensieve and then down into it, stirred the shallow contents and Cassie watched in horror as the wavery form of the wizards and the shop appeared once again. He cursed and threw the pensieve against a wall. The silvery contents dribbled all over the floor. "How did that memory get into the pensieve? Tell me!" He raised his wand and Cassie watched something click in his brain. "Imperious isn't working on you, is it?" He looked at the door and smiled and Cassie's stomach sank. It was a twisted smile. A perverted smile. And she admitted to herself that she was very very frightened. "It's interesting to me that George Weasley has a Muggle girlfriend. I wouldn't have thought he would be one to settle for trash. He always had high class tastes, even if he couldn't afford them. But it does give me some very interesting ideas." He stood up and walked over to the door, lifting the silencing charm. George was still pounding and screaming and there were others out in the hall also. Various charms were being thrown against the door, but none of them were apparently doing the trick. Ashenhurst laughed. "They made this so strong to keep others out. Now they're the ones on the outside trying to get in. And it's you and I in here. All alone." He raised his wand and Cassie knew what was coming before he even said the word. But she didn't even have time to catch her breath before the curse was on her.

Pain. That was the only thought that screamed through her brain and body. Agony beyond comprehensible agony. She heard someone screaming in her ear but didn't realize it was her own voice until he lifted the wand and grinned down at her. She was lying on the floor, shaking, trying to swallow to appease the strain on her vocal cords, but her muscles wouldn't cooperate. She remembered Remus' lesson those weeks ago and tried to remember what he had taught them. She couldn't remember. She couldn't. No one could survive pain like that. No one. She realized that George was screaming louder now and with some still coherent corner of her brain she realized one other thing. Ashenhurst had just given up his plans of getting out of that room the hero. Because he had just admitted that she was still alive. And that meant that now he had nothing to lose. He helped her off the floor and into a chair, throwing the silencing charm again, enveloping them in a cocoon of silence. "That hurt, didn't it? And it was only five seconds. Do you think you could survive ten?" Cassie didn't shake her head although she knew he spoke the truth. "You don't have to answer. I can see it your eyes. I think you can tell me now what I want to know. How did your memory get into that pensieve? Or is it really your memory at all?"

"Not my memory. Fake memory." She gasped out and winced as she forced her abused vocal cords to make noise. He thought about that for a second but shook his head.

"It's not fake. But it's not yours. Do you have any more to add? Like the truth?" This time Cassie did shake her head and she tried to focus. Tried to find a place to escape. She thought of the Burrow, tried to remember something nice. Kissing George. Ashenhurst lifted the silencing charm again but she heard the word "Crucio" over all the screaming and noise from the hall nonetheless. Maybe two seconds. The memory of kissing George had bought her two seconds. It wasn't enough. She didn't want to scream. She really didn't. But she had no choice. He didn't try to get her into a chair this time afterwards, probably knowing that she wouldn't be able to sit there.

It was quiet again, except for her sobs, and she focused on herself, trying desperately to remember how to get control of her pain. Remus had told them to not fight the pain, but to let it just exist while they existed somewhere else. Somewhere nice. Somewhere where the pain was too, but didn't intrude. Her brain scratched around frantically, trying to find someplace nice. A specific memory. She didn't hear his next question. She didn't need to. She knew what he wanted and what he was willing to do to get it. She just focused and wondered how long it would be before they could break through that door. She thought that she could maybe hold out one more time. Then she would tell. She couldn't bear it a fourth time. They would have to get here before then. She heard the hooting from her pocket and registered vaguely that George wanted her to grab the sticker, but she couldn't. All the muscles in her arms were cramped up so tight that she couldn't move them. She tried. Ashenhurst heard the noise and looked at her.

"What is that?" She didn't answer him but he found it, reaching into her pocket and pulling it out. "Why is it making that noise?"

"Signal," she gasped out. "He's still alive."

"Well, that's very touching." He ripped it up. "He can hear you screaming, you know. And I may even let him hear me when I kill you. A shared last moment for the two of you." He walked over to the door and lifted the charm. Cassie tried to focus, anticipating that the Cruciatus curse would be used again on her, but instead, Ashenhurst yelled through the door. "I trust you can hear her screaming!"

"Ashenhurst! I'm going to kill you! Slowly! You let her out of there now!"

"Why should I do that? She's being so wonderfully cooperative. And such a pretty girl, too. For a Muggle, I mean."

"You lay one finger on her and I'll -"

"Oh, I don't need to force her. She's weak now, and docile. If I tell her to come to me, she will! But maybe one more lesson on what happens if she doesn't obey!" Cassie focused, remembering riding on the broom with George, kissing him, loving him, the feeling of flying. She focused on the way the wind felt whipping through her hair when she was on the broom, concentrated on the way the Burrow looked from above. She felt her muscles tighten, every nerve ending in her body protesting the thrice-repeated abuse, and she gasped, trying to catch her breath. The pain was there, but her mind was elsewhere. She wondered for a moment if she were dead, but then she lost concentration, and the weak scream her aching throat gave at the end seemed to satisfy his perverse sense of humor. He laughed. "You're about done for, girl. You'll tell me the truth now, I wager. But . . . you are remarkably pretty. When Weasley finds your body . . . I would like him to think that I got you to bend to my will. Let's see if Imperious works better on you now. A few episodes with Cruciatus and get the most stubborn person to give in. Don't you agree?"

Cassie thought for a moment and then nodded. "Good girl. What are you wearing under your robes? Imperio! Take them off."

"All right. Just don't do that again. I can't take it again."

"And if you cooperate, I won't. I'll just kill you quickly. But, you do need to do what I say." She nodded. She undid the fastenings on the robe and laid it over her chair. Her hands were weak and it took a while but he seemed in no rush. George and the rest of the group were still in the hall and she heard them trying all sorts of things to get in. Ashenhurst didn't even seem concerned. Cassie moved as slowly as she dared and then walked toward him, giving her cramping muscles a chance to relax and recover. When he saw her robes were off, Ashenhurst smiled. "Muggle clothes. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Come here." He touched her hair. "Very pretty. What did you ever see in Weasley anyway? He runs a joke shop for pity's sake. I should keep you alive and take you to live with me. I'd love that. Pity I can't risk it, but it would be nice. Kiss me, darling. I'll be able to tell him all about how good you tasted." His thumb brushed her bottom lip and that was the first time she realized she had bitten through it in her agony. "Oh. That must hurt. I'll kiss it better." She smiled and put her hands on his shoulders. He wasn't as tall as George and it was a strange sensation. She stepped closer to him.

"There's just one thing I want to tell you, David."

"What's that?"

"You wizards really need to stop underestimating Muggles!" As she said that, she brought her knee up very hard into his groin and then did it again before he could collapse. "That's for George!" she said as he crumpled to the ground, clutching himself in agony. She smiled. "And this one is in honor of Draco. He taught me a lot." And she pulled back her foot and kicked him once again right where it counted. This time, it was his screams that echoed through the room. There was complete silence in the hall for a split second and then even louder yells. Cassie wanted to reassure George that she was all right because she knew he thought that was her, but she knew she didn't have the strength to make herself heard over the pandemonium.

She looked at the crumpled wizard on the ground. He hadn't moved yet. She tried to grab his wand out of his hand, but his grip was still tight and she couldn't. He grunted and rolled over, pointing his wand toward her. "I'm going to kill you, Muggle! Right now!" The stream of green light that accompanied his next hoarse curse missed her, but barely. Cassie fell to the ground, hiding behind Galileo's body, trying to ignore the fact that he was dead as another curse passed overhead. There would be time for mourning later. She looked around the room and wished more than she ever had that she was really a witch. If she was, she could start throwing those heavy books magically over on top of him and knock him out. She could see him struggling to rise and she realized that she probably only had a few moments before he could get a better aim on her and hit her this time. She glanced toward the wall and gathered what little strength she had left and crawled over to it. He was still lying on the floor when she looked at him next. He was breathing hard and trying to stand. She stood up and hurried as fast as she could toward him, hoping she had the strength to do what needed to be done. The stone pensieve was heavy and she could barely carry it as it was.

"And this is because I had to drink that horrible potion!" she gasped as she brought the heavy stone bowl down on his head. It must have been a good hit, because he didn't even moan as his eyes rolled back in his head and he lost consciousness. She wondered whether she had killed him, but he twitched and she knew she hadn't hit him hard enough for that. Pity. She tried again to grab his wand, but she was so weak that she couldn't pry it out of his stiff fingers. She grimaced but picked up his wand hand and pressed hard against the pressure point at his wrist. His muscles spasmed reflexively and she grabbed the wand before it hit the floor. Black dots were swimming in front of her eyes and she knew that she wouldn't last much longer before joining the madman in his unconscious state. She just needed to do one more thing. Just one. Then she could sleep.

She took a deep breath, braced the wand across her knee, and counted to three. She pushed with all of her might on both ends of the polished stick and it snapped with a very satisfying crack. She pushed harder until the two halves separated from each other. She lay back on the floor with a sigh, expecting the bliss of unconsciousness, but she was still aware as the door opened a moment later. The breaking of the wand that was holding the door shut had canceled the spell. George rushed toward her and grabbed her, clutching her close to his chest. She groaned in renewed agony. "Don't touch me. Please. Don't. It hurts." Dumbledore said something to her which Cassie didn't hear. And then the blessed darkness closed in and she knew nothing more.


	73. Explanations

Well, this chapter had a mind of its own. It stubbornly refused to let me finish it the way I wanted to. Sorry about that. But despite that, I think it turned out well and I'm very happy with it. I hope you are, too. And for some of you on the feedback forum, I hope this answers some of your questions.  
  
Chapter 73  
Explanations  
  
Cassie's return to consciousness was somewhat like swimming up from a deep depth. She could see the light above her but it was a very long distance away and almost seemed like too much trouble. But despite her almost desperate desire to stop swimming toward that elusive goal and return to the safe darkness below, it got steadily closer. She felt the return of her senses in layers and bits and pieces that seemed to have no logical rhyme or reason. The first thing she really recognized was the feel of soft sheets around her, then the sound of someone softly calling her name, then the smell of flowers, and then again touch, her hand clasped firmly in someone else's. She wanted to tell whoever kept calling her name to quiet down, but she couldn't figure out how so she decided she would just scowl at him instead. She tried to form her face into what she thought was a strict dressing-down expression, but instead of this producing the desired result, the calls just got more insistent and the hand holding hers tightened its grip even further. Then, in one blinding instant, she suddenly remembered why she had been unconscious in the first place and her eyes flew open to confirm that she was where she thought she was.  
  
That was a mistake. The room's lighting was dim, but it was obviously still midday and enough wintry sunshine was coming through Ginny's curtains to send sparks of pain directly into her brain. "Cassie? Cassie? Come on, sweetheart. Open those amazing eyes again for me. Please." She smiled in resignation. He wasn't going to leave her alone, obviously, until she told him to and so she cracked one "amazing" eye open and looked at the red-headed boy who was so desperately clinging to her left hand like if he let go she would disappear.  
  
"Hi." It was nothing, a mere whisper of a sound, scratched over aching vocal cords. But it was enough. The boy didn't react like she expected him to. She thought he might run to the door and tell everyone in the house that she was awake, or maybe ask how she was doing, or maybe try to hug her again. Instead, he took one look into her face and started crying, huge sobs racking through his chest as he tried to catch his breath. That confused her. Why was he crying? Did she look terrible or something? She brought her free hand up to her face. No. It felt like it was supposed to and her hair, although extremely knotted and tangled was all still there as far as she could tell. "George? What's wrong? Is someone hurt?"  
  
He wiped his face on the bedspread and looked at her like she was insane. "Yes. You."  
  
"What? I'm okay. I . . ." She lapsed into silence for a minute. Maybe she wasn't okay. Maybe they'd had to do some drastic wizard surgery that she didn't even know about yet. She took mental inventory. She wiggled all ten toes, which she noted in some corner of her mind were not in her shoes anymore and then all ten fingers, her one hand flexing in both of George's. "I think I'm okay." He didn't say anything for a moment, just stretched on hand out to cup her cheek. "I feel much better now. How long have I been asleep?" If he'd have said five minutes or three weeks, she wouldn't have been surprised in either case. She honestly had no idea, except that she knew it was mid-day, of whatever day it was.  
  
"Only about two hours, but that sleeping spell Dumbledore cast on you, was really only supposed to last long enough to get you back here, so we were all starting to wonder if you were going to wake up." He scrubbed at his eyes again with the back of his hand, as though embarrassed to leave any trace of his tears on his face. Cassie wanted to make a comment about that, but had more important questions to ask.  
  
"It's still Saturday?"  
  
"Yeah, at about two, like I said."  
  
"What happened? Is Fred okay? What about your Dad? He was supposed to . . ."  
  
"Shh. Don't get too excited. Everyone's fine. Really." Cassie wanted to ask more questions, but her little spurt of energy had drained quickly and she thought almost everything else could wait until later.  
  
"My parents?"  
  
"I think they're either back at your house already or will be there by tonight. I can't remember what Dad said about that."  
  
"You got him, then?"  
  
"Well, it wasn't too hard, considering that he was lying senseless in the middle of the floor." She felt a sob come up from somewhere in her gut and she laid there and cried for a long time, the tears rolling down her face in a steady stream, punctuated by gasps for breath every once in a while. He didn't say anything, just patted the hand he was holding over and over again. She never even knew when she stopped crying because she fell back asleep before all her tears were spent.  
  
When she awoke next, the room was a lot darker, and she suspected that it was late afternoon and that the short winter day was almost past. George was still holding her hand, although much more casually than he had been before, when he had had it in almost a vice grip. Now he was sitting in a chair that he had pulled close to her bed and the fingers of one hand were interlaced with hers as he turned the pages of a book with the other. "George?"  
  
"Cassie." This time he did smile and she wondered if he was feeling any better. He put his book down and slid out of the chair onto his knees next to her head. "How are you doing?"  
  
"I'm thirsty."  
  
"Of course you are. I'll get you something." There was a small tray sitting on the bedside table next to Hermione's bed and Cassie could see a pitcher of what she assumed was water, a glass, and a covered plate. George tried to maneuver around to get the glass without relinquishing a hold on her hand but only managed to twist her wrist into an unnatural position.  
  
"George, you're hurting me. You can let go of me. I'm not going to float away or anything." He looked with somewhat vague surprise down at their interlaced fingers, swallowed hard, and dropped her hand. A moment later, the glass of cool water was pressed into her right hand and her left was again captured by his. She managed to drink a little bit of it, then set it down on her own bedside table. The drawer was slightly ajar and she was suddenly reminded of something.  
  
"He ripped up my sticker." Despite herself and a little lecture to herself that she was over-reacting, she felt her eyes prickle again with unshed tears.  
  
"I know. Fred found the pieces. Don't feel bad about it. I can buy you a new one."  
  
"Fred's okay?"  
  
"Everyone's fine, really. But we can talk about that later."  
  
"I want my sticker, not another one." She knew she sounded stupid, like a petulant child, but she just remembered the look of triumph on Ashenhurst's face as he shredded it and wished she could make it go away. George just sighed and kissed her hand.  
  
"I understand, sweetheart. I'm sorry." She lay back against the pillows and screwed her eyes shut against the sudden flood of images that were flashing through her mind's eye now. A moment later, she was mercifully interrupted by Ginny and Hermione, who came bursting into the room.  
  
"I thought you said you'd tell us when she woke up this time!" They scowled at George.  
  
"I was going to. She wasn't ready for visitors, yet."  
  
"And what are you? Furniture?" Ginny shot back at her brother but he didn't budge.  
  
"Whatever you say. Cassie's awake now." This was said without much enthusiasm but she just smiled. She was happy to see them, even if George didn't want to be interrupted. A few minutes later, the room seemed to be straining at the seams with people as everyone had crammed in to see her and wish her a rapid recovery. She didn't talk much, just nodded and smiled when she needed to. Her throat still hurt and trying to speak loudly took more energy that she really had. Harry kissed her on the cheek and told her that he was proud of her, that breaking the wand had been quite a stroke of genius. Ron shook the hand that wasn't being held prisoner by George and said that it sounded like she had been bloody amazing! Hermione shushed him and both she and Ginny patted Cassie on the shoulder and told her that they had brought the flowers. Cassie turned her head rather awkwardly toward her trunk and saw some rather abused looking flowers, but considering it was winter and these had been picked out of the sleeping garden, it was a nice gesture.  
  
Molly fussed as much as usual, and kept rattling on and on about how she intended to give Albus a piece of her mind when she saw him next. Cassie just smiled her gratitude and allowed the older witch to fluff her pillows even though trying to sit up that way was rather painful. Remus and Tonks both apologized for letting her down that morning, but she just waved a weak hand in dismissal and told them that they had done what they could with what they knew and that she didn't want to analyze this yet. Bill and Charlie offered brief hellos before they both headed out into less crowded areas of the house. Even Arthur patted her briefly on the shoulder.  
  
His voice was low and hesitant and she had a feeling she knew what he was going to say. "Cassie, I . . .I feel like I was responsible for the debacle this morning."  
  
"Oh, Arthur. You're not. You couldn't have known." Cassie was sure that Arthur wanted to discuss this further, but she couldn't bear the thought of rehashing the whole sorry episode again. The thought just exhausted her and despite the fact that she was sure it was very rude to go to sleep when someone else was talking, her eyes closed of their own volition and she let Arthur's voice float over her in a comforting cadence that seeped into her bones and relaxed her. A little later, George's aggravated voice woke her from the half-dreamy state she was in.  
  
"Dad, you've worn her out. I told you it was too soon for visitors." She heard George shooing everyone out of the room, even Ginny who protested rather noisily that it was her room and that if anyone should leave it should be him. George just shut the door on her face and Cassie relaxed in the sudden quiet everyone's departure left behind. A sudden terrible thought crossed her mind and she examined it for a few minutes before decided that she was just going to have to ask.  
  
"Am I dying, George?"  
  
"What!" His voice was appalled and she shrugged, her eyes still closed, unwilling to see the look on his face. "Of course not! What makes you ask that?"  
  
"Everyone's being so, I don't know, overly friendly. And I don't think you've let go of my hand for more than 10 seconds the entire time since I got here." She tried to make it sound sort of light-hearted, but in reality, she was very curious why he was clinging to her like she was going to be snatched out of her bed any moment unless he physically held her down.  
  
"Everyone else feels sorry for you. And I . . . I left you, Cassie. And you went through Hell in there. Absolute Hell. I'm not letting you out of my sight ever again." This time she didn't have to force the smile.  
  
"That could prove slightly problematic. Really." She moved the blankets and glanced down at herself for the first time, confirming what she had suspected since the first time she woke up. "Like this, for instance. Who changed me into my nightshirt? It wasn't you, was it?" He shook his head.  
  
"I was tempted but they forced me to leave; but seriously . . . . don't make me go now."  
  
"I won't. You can stay." His fingers interlaced with hers again and she closed her eyes. "I'm so tired."  
  
"That's normal. It's a reaction to the pain. The more you sleep, the better."  
  
"I don't hurt anymore."  
  
"No. Pomfrey gave you a potion. There's more if you need it, okay?" She wanted to answer him. She really did. But her mouth wouldn't open and then she forgot what she was supposed to say anyway.  
  
Darkness was fully settled on the room when she woke again and George, still holding her hand, was asleep in the chair, his head held at an awkward angle, his mouth slightly open, his breaths rough and uneven as he sat there. She watched him for a few seconds without moving. She had never seen him sleep before. It wasn't his best time, obviously. She hoped that when he was holding her and she was sleeping in his lap she looked a little more graceful than he did at the moment. She tried to retrieve her hand carefully from his so that he didn't wake up. She really wanted to turn on her side and watch him for a little while when he didn't know he was being watched, but the second she tugged on her hand, his eyes flew open and he looked down at her.  
  
"Are you okay? Do you need anything? I can get you some more water or maybe something to eat. Mum said you might want some soup or maybe some pumpkin juice. She can . . .."  
  
"Water's fine. Thank you."  
  
"I went to sleep, didn't I?" She nodded as he filled up the water glass again and helped her take a few small sips. "Sorry. I didn't mean to-"  
  
"George! I was asleep. I'm glad you got some rest, too. You look about as exhausted as I've felt today." He rubbed an open hand over his face and blinked a few times.  
  
"It has been a bit of a stressful day." He laughed sadly and then leaned back in his chair, staring up at Ginny's ceiling as though memorizing the cracks in the plaster.  
  
"What happened?" He looked at her again with a rather rueful smile on his face, then back up at the ceiling.  
  
"Before, during, or after the little son of a - well, fill in the blank, tried to kill you?"  
  
"Uh, all three, I guess. I never really knew what was going on before, of course, and I guess I slept through the after, and-" He reached for her hand again and grasped it tightly.  
  
"I thought you were dead. I kept seeing the picture over and over again in my imagination. We would finally break through the door and you would be laying there, all beat up and bloody, but cold, your eyes staring at nothing, your face with a look of absolute horror, and I would know I had failed you. When it really counted, I had left you and you would never . . ." He stared at the ceiling one more time and Cassie looked away for a moment. It was obvious he was trying not to cry and she didn't want to embarrass him.  
  
"You can't blame yourself, George. You had to trust him. He was on your side, you thought. And then he told you that Fred was hurt - you had to go. You could never have forgiven yourself if something had happened to Fred."  
  
"Well, maybe not. But Fred had someone to look after him and he could take care of himself pretty well anyway. But I left you, completely alone and helpless, with some crazed berk when I had promised I never would." She smiled and pulled her hand close and kissed his fingers where they intertwined with hers. She wanted to mention Galileo but she didn't. She was afraid she would start crying again. There would be time to talk about that later.  
  
"Not so helpless. After all, when it was over, he was the one lying unconscious on the floor, not me."  
  
"That is very true. Very true."  
  
"And besides. I'm glad you left." George looked at her with a very confused expression.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'm glad you left. He didn't kill me right away because he needed information from me, but he had no such qualms about killing anyone else. If you would have stayed, he would have killed you, too. Just like he did . . .the other one." She couldn't bring herself to say his name. It still hurt too much to think that he had died for her sake. George nodded.  
  
"He may have tried, but-"  
  
"No buts. He would have killed you before he even said anything. He never even said anything to . . . him. He just pointed his wand and killed him. I didn't even see him die. I just heard this thud and then I thought . . . I don't know . . . that they were teasing me or something . . ." She pulled her hand out of his grasp and curled up into a ball, trying to block out the memory of seeing Galileo lying on the floor, staring unseeingly up at the ceiling.  
  
George gave her a minute to compose herself, just patting her shoulder gently. "Do you remember what happened in there?"  
  
"Yes. Everything."  
  
"Well, Dumbledore was hoping you would. He wants to talk to you tomorrow. Tell you what happened, find out what happened with you."  
  
"Oh, George. I'm not sure I can handle having to remember that again. I don't want to think about it."  
  
"I understand, love. I do. But this isn't a testimony sort of thing. He's talked enough for both of you. He confessed everything. And what he didn't confess, we were able to figure out through the wand. But he wouldn't talk about how you managed to knock him out and survive when he was so dead-set on killing you. I think it may have been an affront to his pride - that he was bested by a Muggle. So that's all Dumbledore wants to know."  
  
"All right. I guess I can talk about that all right." She was silent for a long moment and wished she had remembered to tell Remus earlier how much his classes had helped her today. Well, she would definitely do that tomorrow. "What time is it now?"  
  
"About 9:30, I guess. Ginny and Hermione will be wanting to come to bed soon. I don't want to leave you. I just keep being afraid you'll somehow be gone and this will all be a dream." He stood up and walked to the other side of the bed. She tried to roll over to watch what he was doing but he gently turned her shoulders so that she was facing the empty chair where he had been sitting. She felt the bedsprings depress as he sat down and then felt his warmth all along her back. "I've wanted to do this all day. Just this once, please. I just want to hold you." He was laying next to her, his long body curling around her smaller one. He was on top of the covers and she was under them, so they weren't actually touching her anywhere except for her shoulders, but she sighed and laid very still. His arm slipped between her pillow and her head so that she was resting on him and his other arm sneaked around her waist and pulled her back snug against him. She hardly dared to breathe now, unsure of what to do to make this last longer. "Just let me hold you for a minute, please."  
  
She knew that if her mum saw her lying here like this, she would be very unhappy, but at the moment, she didn't care. They weren't actually doing anything wrong and she deserved a little bit of comfort after her morning. The arm that had been around her waist shifted and stroked her hair gently, then moved her hair aside and she felt his mouth on her neck. This was heavenly, she decided. Absolutely heavenly. His kisses were soft and undemanding, more comforting than seducing, and she closed her eyes and let him explore the soft skin under her ear and jaw without protest. He stopped after a few minutes and she tried to turn her head to see him, but her neck hurt and she wasn't really able to, so she just turned her head again toward the empty chair and savored the feel of his breath in her hair.  
  
Ginny and Hermione came in a little later and both of them raised their eyebrows at the couple on the bed, but Cassie was enjoying it too much to care. "George. You've got to go now. It's bedtime. And Mum says that in no circumstances are you allowed to stay in here tonight." She felt movement behind her and the warmth along her back shifted and then was gone.  
  
"She wouldn't have to know if . . ."  
  
"I would tell. So don't ask. Go on. She'll still be here in the morning." Cassie understood Ginny's point of view on this, but she really wanted George to stay. He could just sleep in the chair all night. But then she remembered how uncomfortable he had looked earlier and that it probably wasn't fair for her to ask him to sleep like that all night, so she just smiled at him as he looked down on her. He bent and kissed her, very gently. So the pain surprised her. Then she remembered, her lip. It was cut and hurt from earlier and obvious very tender. She reached up and ran a hand over her bottom lip. Yeah. It hurt.  
  
"I'll see you in the morning, okay?" She nodded, not really trusting her voice to reply. She felt surprisingly desolate, like her only hold on reality was walking away from her. She didn't know why she felt that way. Nothing had really changed that much since yesterday when she had been perfectly content to know he was in another room close by and thinking about her.  
  
But as she lay there in the dark a while later after good nights and light gossip had been exchanged with the other two girls, she realized that something had changed. Herself. She was not the same person who had gone by portkey that morning to that old house outside of Hogsmeade. Something had changed inside her. And she wasn't sure whether she was happy about it or not. The confrontation with Ashenhurst had taken away her innocence. Her naivete, whatever you wanted to call it. She had grown up in that few minutes; she had faced fear, pain, death, and fought her way back to tell the story. She laughed silently at herself. Okay, she was probably getting a little overly dramatic, but she felt like she had aged 10 years that day, and she wished with all her heart she could crawl back inside and go back to the way she was before. She was aware of the wetness on her face when she went to sleep, but she didn't bother to wipe away the tears. There were just more to follow.  
  
She had strange dreams that night, nightmares most of them, not surprisingly consisting of flashbacks of memories from that day. She woke several times, frightened and worried. Several times, she thought she felt George there beside her, and when she did, she was easily able to go back to sleep. A few times, he wasn't there and then she laid awake and cried for a while before her exhaustion would take over and she would eventually fall into uneasy rest again. She didn't really question why he was sometimes there and sometimes not. She didn't care. She was just happy when he was.  
  
By the time her eyes opened in the morning, she felt she had relived that scene in the library at the McKinnon house 50 more times in the night and her head ached as a result of the sleepless night. She pulled herself out of bed and dragged herself to the bathroom where she indulged in a very long hot shower. Afterward, she worked hard on her makeup, trying to cover the dark circles under her eyes and the bruise on her lip and make herself look a little more lively. Studying herself in the mirror a little later, she decided that she had probably done an adequate job. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and called it good. She just didn't have the energy for anything else. Back in her room, she dressed in her most comfortable jeans and the jumper that Molly had knitted for her. She slipped on her trainers and sat down on the bed, unsure if she was really ready to go downstairs and face everyone. And she wasn't really sure why. There was a soft knock on the door a few minutes later and she said it was okay to come in. George's anxious face showed through the opening and she smiled in relief.  
  
"Are you okay? I heard you moving around, but then . . . you stopped."  
  
"I'm just . . . not sure I want to go downstairs."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"I don't really know." He let the subject drop and just looked at her. "Did you come into the room last night?" She thought she must have been dreaming that he was there, but she wasn't sure.  
  
"Well, yes, actually I did a few times. I would just apparate down here and sit by you. I . . . told myself I shouldn't, that I should just let you sleep, but . . ."  
  
"It's all right. It helped me a lot."  
  
He walked from the door where he was still standing in toward her as if asking permission to come closer. She smiled at him and he came to sit next to her on the bed. "You didn't sleep well."  
  
"No. Does that surprise you?"  
  
"He's in Azkaban at the moment, you know? But I feel like going there and slowly breaking every bone in his body." She nodded.  
  
"Maybe I could come and help. Give me a hammer or something and you could hold him down while I actually hit him." They both laughed quietly and he took her hand again. "Why did he do it? What did he hope to . . ." George shook his head.  
  
"I don't know. I brought you home right away. I guess they questioned him right there so Dumbledore will probably be able to tell you more about what he actually said. I'm only getting second-hand information from Dad and Fred. Mum came home with us, by the way. All I know, is that before you and I left - you had to be checked by Madam Pomfrey so we were there about 20 minutes - he woke up and started ranting and raving about how he was going to kill you. Dumbledore stupified him until we actually left the grounds."  
  
"He wanted to make you suffer before he killed me."  
  
"I know." He let go of her hand and wrapped his arms around her. "I was trying so hard to get in there to get to you. I kept begging Dumbledore to let down the apparition wards. I didn't care if he got away as long as he left you there. He tried, but they were very complex and before he could, you broke his wand."  
  
"I heard you yelling. I . . . he wanted me to get undressed." George's already angry expression took on a deeper hue and Cassie knew that this wasn't just frustration. He was mad enough to kill. A moment later he confirmed her gut instinct.  
  
"I am going to kill him. I don't know how or when, but I'm going to kill him. Did he actually touch you?"  
  
"No. He . . . I fought him."  
  
"Oh, Merlin! I just . . . I can't believe he hurt you like that, just to get back at me."  
  
"I think that . . . it was sort of a mixed thing. He wanted-"  
  
"Cassie, George. Albus is here. Do you want him to come up here or do you feel up to coming downstairs?" Molly was looking in on them, smiling, and Cassie clutched George's hand as they stood up and walked toward the door.  
  
"I'm not sure I can do this. I don't want to think about what happened in there."  
  
"I understand. So will he. He doesn't want to interrogate you or anything. Just talk about what you want to. And what you don't want to discuss, just skip over." When the got downstairs, Cassie wanted to just tell her story quickly and then retreat upstairs. She felt awkward with all of the sympathy in everyone's eyes and she still felt worn out and stretched, and like she could burst into tears at any moment. But Molly insisted that she eat something so she managed to eat a bit of toast and some egg as well as some porridge, surprised at how good everything tasted. Then, everyone insisted on listening to her and so despite her protestations, she realized this was going to be a very long drawn out process.  
  
She was settled into the most comfortable chair in the living room a few minutes later, the warmth of the fire helping to drive away some of the cold in her bones. George had pulled another chair very close to her and even though he wasn't touching her to begin with, she knew that if she needed him, he was only an arm's length away. The entire living room was full of people, the entire Weasley clan (except for Percy) was there along with Harry, Hermione, Tonks, and Remus of course as well as some other Order members she recognized from the morning before, although she couldn't remember any names. Professor Dumbledore eventually sat on a chair not too far from hers and when everyone was settled, he started talking.  
  
"First of all, I want to let you know, Cassie, the aftermath of yesterday's confrontation. Cornelius Fudge was shown my memory in the pensieve of your trip into Knockturn Alley. He was hesitant at first to believe it, but when he heard them discussing the basics of the plan against him, as well as Madam Bones' testimony, he quickly came over to our point of view. As a result, six of the eight wizards you saw that night are currently under arrest and the other two, one of them the American, are being sought and will hopefully be caught shortly. And, of course, Ashenhurst was arrested easily and is already in Azkaban. The arrest warrants against all the various Order members, and Harry of course, have all been rescinded. The Muggle Prime Minister has had the Imperious curse lifted off him and is currently on a short holiday at St. Mungo's for a little recuperation period. Grimmauld Place, although in a bit of a shambles right now, has been vacated by the Muggle policemen and will shortly be back in our possession, once the wards have been recast and strengthened. Your family is back at your home and is anxiously awaiting your arrival. So, all in all, the mission was a success. It was not without a price paid, however. A steep price for two people. Ashenhurst told us much of what happened in the library, but to say he was not in his right mind would probably be a charitable way to state things. We were hoping that you could perhaps paint a clearer picture of how young Mr. Podmore died, and also how you came to be hurt and how you hurt Ashenhurst in return."  
  
Cassie nodded but before she could really even start, Dumbledore continued. "However, since you were up in the library the entire time and unable to see what was going on elsewhere in the house, I feel that you deserve to know that story first. Then there will be time to tell yours." So, he began:  
  
"Ashenhurst has from all indications been spying on the Order for just a few months. We are not sure what made Lord Voldemort decide to try and infiltrate us and we may never know what made Ashenhurst decide to agree. I suppose for our purposes today, it matters little. It is only important to know that Lucius Malfoy knew about him and contacted him when he started putting this group together. At least, that is what Blackman is saying now. He thought it would be helpful to be able to know what we knew about their group and how we were reacting to their various maneuvers. Of course, you already heard my explanation on Wednesday morning to the entire purpose of the group to begin with, but let me just give a really quick summary to those who have not heard this already."  
  
Cassie stared at the fire as Professor Dumbledore outlined once again how he believed that Lucius Malfoy tried to eliminate Harry by using the Ministry or even by using the Muggle government in hopes that once Harry was gone the path to power for Lord Voldemort would be clear. But eventually, he got around to the discussions about yesterday's events and she turned her head to look at him again.  
  
"So, he knew this was a trap set for some mysterious ninth wizard, which of course was actually himself. However, with the rather predictable arrogance of all evil men, even Lord Voldemort as I think you will all agree, he thought that he could use our plan for his own purposes and escape unscathed. He wanted to continue spying on the Order for Lord Voldemort and was desperate that he not be discovered to be a traitor. Cassie, I will tell you this although everyone else in this room already knows. You don't back out or change your mind once your are in the service of Lord Voldemort. Once you work for him, the only way out is death. He had no options. And had the plot been uncovered and he been exposed as one of the conspirators, death would have been a certainty in any case. Lord Voldemort does not take kindly to his minions doing any individual thinking. In fact," and Professor Dumbledore's eyes twinkled in a rather disturbing way, "I believe Lucius was caught so easily because he knew that his punishment at the hands of his master right now would not be an easy one." Cassie thought about that for a minute and shuddered. Much as she hated Lucius Malfoy, and she did, the thought of anyone being subjected to what she had gone through yesterday evoked feelings of pity.  
  
"His plan was a simple one, from what we can deduce. He would simply have himself made one of your protectors and then kill the other one and then kill you." Cassie nodded.  
  
"He told me all about that."  
  
"Well, good, maybe you can enlighten us as to how he thought he could walk out unscathed." She nodded again and Professor Dumbledore continued with his recitation. "We believe, and this is just guesswork on our part, that when he learned he was not going to be one of the assigned protectors, a role he had been asking for, he planned a small diversion so that he could get the other people away from you. That was nicely taken care of by us, I'm sorry to admit, when we told Nightscall about the planned memory transfer to the pensieve. Had we not done that, it is possible that they never would have known about the entire incident. He didn't want them anywhere near there and had in fact hired several thugs from Knockturn Alley to come and fight with the Order members, make a lot of noise, throw a lot of curses about and then get arrested at the end. That worked up to a point although our guard was stronger than even he knew, and several of his friends came to save their own skins by attempting to kill you. So, in the end, we caught five of them right there which would have been more than enough witnesses against him, no matter what else he had done to you." He paused and took a deep breath and she knew instinctively that this was the point where she was supposed to ask questions if she had any.  
  
"He didn't hurt Percy or Fudge, then, when he took them away?"  
  
"No. He simply took them to another room, told them it was secure, and locked them in. They never saw any of the battle at all or heard any of it either. We found them still sitting in there looking quite angry almost an hour after we got into the library to get you."  
  
"And there really wasn't a big fight where people were hurt and Fred was calling out for George?"  
  
"No. I think he hoped they would put up a bit more a fight, but like I said, we hadn't even let him know of how many guards we would have for you. We operated on a strictly need-to-know basis for this plan, and it worked to our advantage this time."  
  
"He was surprised George came back so early but he didn't know about the stickers. That's why he came back when he did." George nodded beside her.  
  
"That's right. Otherwise, I would have stayed and helped finish the fighting. I knew that some of the wizards we were fighting were from the group Cassie saw, but then the sticker hooted and I knew she was in trouble."  
  
"What stickers?" Molly asked in confusion and George briefly explained the charm he had placed on them and how he thought they could probably help that morning and how they actually had. Cassie cried again at the thought of Ashenhurst ripping hers up, but wiped hastily at her eyes before anyone else could tell her she was being a big baby.  
  
Proffessor Dumbledore beamed at the two of them and then he finished his side of the story. "After that, we just were trying to get in to get you. Everyone was stunned or chained downstairs, Madam Bones' guards had several of them spilling their life stories right there, and then we heard the screaming. After that, there's really not much to tell that I haven't already mentioned. So, what we are hoping you can tell us . . . is what he was thinking. Why did he do this? It doesn't make a lot of sense to us, but we think we're just missing one piece of a very complex puzzle. Maybe one piece will help it all make sense."  
  
Cassie gripped George's hand tightly and started to tell the story of what happened in the library once Galileo locked the door behind Hestia and George, starting with small talk, hurrying briefly over the shock of seeing the dead body on the floor and then telling how he had started questioning her, rather than just killing her outright. " . . . . It was really just for kicks, I think. Maybe something he could hold over their heads later, that he had saved them from being arrested. I still don't know why he wanted to know who we had seen and identified. I couldn't figure it out then either. Anyway, he knew I was a Muggle and that there was no way to put my memory into a pensieve and thought the entire thing had been just the bait for the trap." Professor Dumbledore nodded. "But he wanted to know who I had seen. I told him I hadn't recognized anyone there at all and then he said that he knew we had identified a few and that you" she nodded at the Headmaster, "had said that almost all of them were identified. But I told him you had been lying, that I had only been able to identify Malfoy, Blackman, and Nightscall and that I had no idea on the others. He knew I was lying and that infuriated him because he kept putting me under Imperious and I still wouldn't tell him the truth."  
  
"So you were able to resist the curse?" Professor Dumbledore asked quietly.  
  
"Yes. Remus taught us how in class. Harry can resist it. So can I, I guess. Ginny is really good at resisting it." There was a long period of silence in the room and when Cassie met George's gaze, his face was pale so that his freckles stood out against the skin.  
  
"That's amazing. Incredible. Unbelievable. Is this true, Remus?"  
  
"I was quite impressed at her mental strength even back then. I think that the fact she is a Muggle is unimportant. I have always thought resisting Imperious just takes strength of will, a refusal to submit. And she's right. Harry cannot be forced to do anything he doesn't want to. And Ginny . . . well, Ginny is quite amazing in and of herself." All three of them blushed and Cassie hid her face behind her hand in embarrassment.  
  
"Anyway. Back to the story. I think he was just going to kill me, though, and give up trying to find out about what I had or hand not seen when he just sort of idly looked in the pensieve. He saw the memory you had put there earlier, Professor, and that frightened him a great deal."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well, I think that he was convinced it could not be my memory of the shop because I am a Muggle and it just would be impossible for it to be my memory. So, he naturally assumed that it had to be someone else's memory. He didn't really know whose, but he reasoned that someone else had been there that night."  
  
"I don't understand why that would make any difference to him, though. Because you never saw him. He was never there that night at all that we know about." Ginny was shaking her head. "This is the part about this that I haven't understood since Wednesday."  
  
"It has to do with the fact that with a witness, the others who were there could be forced to drink Veritaserum and then would reveal his role in the entire scheme. Without a witness, he didn't have anything to worry about, because none of them would ever willingly betray a member of one of Lord Voldemort's inner circle. None of them. So, they would go to prison, maybe, but he would be safe." Professor Dumbledore finished, his brows drawn together. "So that memory convinced him that rather than just one easily-killed Muggle girl as a witness, there was someone else, a witch or wizard, an unknown quantity."  
  
"Yes, that's right. I think that is when he gave up his plan of escape. I saw the change in his eyes. He knew, then, that there was no way out for him. Well, unless he managed to force his way out or somehow get you to bring down the wards so he could apparate away or something. Who knows? Maybe that was his thinking. If you brought down the wards so you could get into me, he could leave. But it doesn't matter. For whatever reason, he decided that he needed to find out whose memory was in the pensieve. And he wasn't going to kill me until I told him. At first, he was just going to use Imperious on me again, but then he realized that that was getting him nowhere, so he . . . thought he would up the ante a bit." Cassie sighed and looked at the fire again. "Plus, to be honest, I think he wanted to aggravate George."  
  
"George?" about five people asked at once and Cassie couldn't help but smile. George filled them in on their school rivalry and their strong dislike for each other even now, five years after they had last met on the pitch. Fred growled and grumbled louder than anyone else but after the noise eventually died down, Cassie continued her story.  
  
"So, he would lift the silencing charm so George could hear me scream and then put it down again so I couldn't get any strength or encouragement afterward. It was pretty bad. Worse than you can really imagine." She noticed that a lot of the faces around the room were nodding and she realized that rough as it had been for her, she wasn't the first to be so treated and it wouldn't be the last time many of them would go through it. She particularly glanced at Harry. Ginny had told her once that Harry had had the curse cast on him so many times now that he had given up counting at 15 and that he fully expected he would get to experience it a few more times before he managed to get rid of Lord Voldemort. Cassie watched him for a minute as he whispered into Ginny's ear and her admiration of him went up another notch. The thought of going into battle, knowing that you were almost certainly going to get Cruciatus cast against you, would be enough to make her stay home and hide under the bed. She honestly didn't know how someone could force themselves to take that sort of a risk. "Anyway, fortunately, Remus had taught us how to deal with the pain, and so I did and then he gave me another opening. I honestly don't know if I could have withstood it another time and I think he knew it. But by then, he also knew that George was absolutely going insane in the hall and so he wanted to egg him on a bit." She told about taking off her robe and the kiss and the way he had touched her hair.  
  
Then, blushing furiously, she told them about the two knees in the groin and the good solid kick. All the men looked slightly pale when she was done, but the girls all enthusiastically agreed that she had done the right thing. Then, she hesitantly told them about the green curses that went wide and how she knew that death was near if she didn't manage to get rid of that wand. She ended with the satisfying crack of the wood across her knee and then she fell silent, completely worn out from reliving it one more time.  
  
George stood and picked her up from the chair. "She's told you everything she knows. I'm taking her back to bed." Cassie clung to him as they climbed the stairs and looked at him as he tucked her one more time into bed. "You did a good job. You made things a lot easier to understand."  
  
"When do you think I can go home?" He sat down next to her on the bed and cupped her face in his hand.  
  
"I think that physically you can probably go home any time you want to. The other kids go back to school tomorrow and I was kind of thinking maybe you would want to stay here until then. You know, kind of a good-bye thing. And let you recuperate a bit emotionally. But, if you want to go once you've rested, there's nothing stopping you."  
  
"Yes, there is. There really is." She reached up and cupped his face in the same way he was cupping hers. "My heart is here. And I'm not really sure I can bear to leave it behind."  
  
"Your heart, love, will not be left behind. It's going to be stubbornly following you anywhere you go." And he waved his wand at the chair he had spent so much time in for the past 24 hours to bring it close to the bed once again. Then he sat down in it, keeping a firm hold of her hand as she once again drifted off to sleep.


	74. Home Again

I know this is a day late, and I apologize profusely to any of you who have been dying to read this chapter. I won't explain except to say that real life interfered in a rather brutal way and I have been working as hard as possible on it all day and this was truly the soonest that it could have possibly been posted. Please forgive any bad phrasing or spelling. I just don't want to spend time proofreading. Enjoy! We're getting too close to the end, in my opinion.  
  
Chapter 74  
Home Again  
  
When Cassie awoke, she guessed it was about two hours later. George was still holding her hand and he was talking quietly to someone else in the room. She rolled over and then sat up suddenly as she saw who was there.  
  
"Mum!" Her mother smiled broadly and stood up and joined her on the bed, sitting down gingerly. They hugged tightly and Cassie breathed deeply. Her mother smelled familiar, like home, and Cassie felt tears rising up in her throat and she tightened her grip even more. She hadn't realized how much she missed her family until just this second. "I missed you so much!"  
  
Her mother leaned out of her embrace and looked down at her. "We miss you, too! You are going to be coming home, soon, though. That's what Arthur said." Cassie nodded and pulled her mother close again.  
  
"Is Dad here? And the boys?"  
  
"No. Arthur said that the boys might be a bit too rambunctious to be around you at the moment, and Dad stayed home to watch them. He wanted to come, but I wouldn't stay home. I wanted to know for sure that you're all right."  
  
"My brothers . . . . rambunctious? I think you must have them confused with someone else." They both laughed softly and Cassie heard George laughing, too.  
  
"Your brothers are the very definition of rambunctiousness, Cassie. They're about as bad as Fred and I used to be, and that's saying something." Cassie leaned back against the pillows and looked up at her mother, who reached over the brushed the hair off her forehead, shaking her head a little as she smiled.  
  
"So, Arthur told you what happened?"  
  
"Yes. I think he told us everything, although I have to admit that I didn't understand most of what he said. Of course, I was so panicked at the moment and what he said happened to you that I probably wasn't listening very well."  
  
"I'm all right. Much better now than I was yesterday."  
  
"Are you still in pain? I understand that Ashenhurst person tortured you for a long time." Cassie sighed.  
  
"Well, I was hurting a bit yesterday, but today I feel better, I'm just really worn out. I keep falling asleep."  
  
"That's a reaction to the potions she took," George explained. "It helps her feel better, but it also makes her sleepy."  
  
"But I haven't taken any potions lately."  
  
"No, but we really dosed you up well yesterday. You may not even remember taking some of them because you were sleeping when Mum would pour some down your throat." He came over to the far side of the bed, across from her mother, and took her hand again. "We were all pretty worried about you. Mrs. Robinson, Cassie was very brave to stand up to what Ashenhurst did to her and I don't know what Dad said to you, but believe me when I tell you that she's incredible."  
  
"I already knew that." They smiled at each other and Cassie looked wide-eyed between them. Apparently whatever bad feelings had existed between them before now had been set aside while they both worried about her. "We all miss you so badly. When I sent you away, I really thought it would only be for a few days. Your dad warned me it would be longer, but I didn't believe him. I didn't want to believe him. This has been the longest month of my life."  
  
"Oh, Mum! I bet you were happy to have me gone." Cassie teased, because although they got along well, her mother was always saying that having a teenager in the house was more work than the other two put together.  
  
"That's not true. I don't how Molly sends her kids away for months at a time. I would go mad." Cassie looked at her mother for a little while as they both sat silently. She did look a little older than when she had really seen her last, not counting Christmas.  
  
"Why don't I leave the two of you alone for a while. If you need anything, Mrs. Robinson, just call down the stairs and someone will come up."  
  
"Does Cassie have to stay in bed?"  
  
"No. She can do anything she feels up to doing. You're welcome to come downstairs, if you'd rather. It's just that if you want any privacy, you're probably best up here." He smiled down at Cassie and then bent and kissed her softly on her cheek. "I'll check on you in a while, okay?" and then he walked out of the room. Cassie watched him go and then turned back to her mum. She pushed the covers off and sat up, swinging her legs off the bed.  
  
"I'm actually dressed. I was downstairs earlier today, but I got sleepy."  
  
"Yes. Well, rest is probably the best thing for you. Do you think you need to see a doctor, a real doctor? I worry about all those weird potions they give you. Do they even work?"  
  
"They seem to work all right. No, I don't need to see a 'real' doctor. Madam Pomfrey saw me, I guess. And it's her potion."  
  
"Who's this Pomfrey woman?"  
  
"She's the school nurse. But she seems to be really good at fixing up magical problems. Harry says she is excellent, and he should know. He says he spends a lot of time in the hospital wing at school and all."  
  
"Still, though . . . does she know anything about actual, you know, medicine?"  
  
"Well, it was magic that he was using on me. So she'd know about that." Cassie felt a bit disconcerted about having this conversation with her mother. She sounded a bit . . .bigoted against the wizards. And Cassie didn't want to think about her mother in that way.  
  
"If you say so." She got off the bed and returned to the chair. "So, Arthur told me that most of the awful men who were in that dreadful meeting have been arrested."  
  
"Yeah, I guess. That's what Professor Dumbledore said today."  
  
"That's good. Then things can go back to normal. You can come home and go back to school and everything."  
  
"What have you told everyone about where I was?"  
  
"I called your school and told them that there was a family emergency and that you had to go away to help out."  
  
"Did they say anything about my make-up work?"  
  
"Not specifically, but I am sure that you will very busy the first few weeks when you get back. I was hoping that you'd be able to go back in the morning, for the start of the new term, but . . ."  
  
"I don't want to leave here until tomorrow." Her mother pursed her lips a bit but then she sighed.  
  
"Yes, I know. This has been a wonderful holiday for you. But you need to come back and get into real life again. You can't hide forever." Cassie wondered if she looked as incredulous as she felt.  
  
"Holiday? Mum, I . . . I haven't exactly been relaxing on the beach eating sweets, you know!"  
  
"I know. But you haven't done anything important. . .like school work or anything. I hardly think your playing at wizard school qualifies."  
  
"Mum!" Cassie felt sick to her stomach and it wasn't anything to do with potions. "You don't understand what I've been through, do you? And you don't really care!"  
  
"Of course I care! And I know you think you've found a boyfriend and everything - I can understand why, when you're so far away from everything you know and love. Anyone would be wanting someone to turn to, but-"  
"Mum!" Cassie said again. So much for her hope that she and George were getting along better. "I don't think I've found a boyfriend!"  
  
"Oh, really? I thought you were getting rather attached to the boy."  
  
"I have found a boyfriend! And I'm not just attached! I love him!"  
  
"I understand. I do. He's very nice. And he's obviously devoted to you, but I'm sure you'll be pleased to find a nice normal boy to date when you go back to school. You never dated much before, I know, but now you know how fun it is, you'll be looking more." Cassie stared at her mother and wanted to ask who she was, but decided that would probably be rude.  
  
"Okay. You can think that. But George and I will still be dating."  
  
"Surely not!" Her mother looked surprised.  
  
"Surely yes! He just said so. Well, before I went to sleep." Cassie looked at the door to the bedroom and considered making a run for it. She didn't know this stranger, but she knew she wasn't very nice.  
  
"But . . . doesn't he want to date some nice . . . er, witch sort of person? I mean, isn't that what his parents want for him? I'm sure that that would be better all around. For both of you."  
  
"I thought you liked Arthur?"  
  
"What does that have to do with anything?"  
  
"He's a wizard and-"  
  
"I like Arthur. That doesn't mean that if your father wasn't around I'd marry him. There's a big difference, dear."  
  
"That's fine." Cassie felt like hitting something. She decided that she definitely needed to get out of this room. She didn't need this aggravation. "It's good to see you're being so open-minded about things. I'm hungry. I'm going to go downstairs and get something to eat. If you're sure I won't get poisoned by weird wizard food or anything." She stalked over to the door and ripped it open then started down the stairs, not even checking to see if she was behind her.  
  
"Cassiopeia! What was that supposed to mean?" She heard her calling, but ignored her. Once downstairs, she looked around for George in the group gathered in the kitchen and then in the living room. George was standing next to Fred and they were talking about something, both of their hands moving frantically through the air in the way she recognized as meaning he was very excited about some idea or another. She wanted to rush up to him and cry onto his shoulder and was almost there when she decided she'd hold on the crying. She'd done enough of that already. But she grabbed him and was pulled naturally into his embrace. She just held him, listening to the twins as they discussed some invention or another that they thought would be successful in the store. When there was a break in the conversation, George looked down at her.  
  
"I thought you'd talk to your mum for longer. You must have a lot of catching up to do."  
  
"Not really. She was just depressing me talking about going back to school. And besides, I'm hungry."  
  
"Come on, then. We'll get you something. I think Mum's about got lunch ready." He kept his arm around her shoulders. "I think your mum's come around to the idea of the two of us being together."  
  
"Yeah. I think so." Cassie lied, smiling a little at him, hoping she wouldn't start crying which would make him wonder. "She said she can tell you love me."  
  
"Smart woman. Like mother, like daughter, I guess." He looked closer at her. "Are you sure you're okay? You seem upset. You do have to go back to school, you know!" He was teasing her, but Cassie grasped onto the idea like a lifeline.  
  
"But . . . can't I stay here, with you? I could read a lot and I've already taken my GCSE's And I'm old enough to . . "  
  
"We can talk about this later, but-" He pushed open the kitchen door and was interrupted.  
  
"Cassie! What's wrong? Why did you leave like that?" Her mother was now sitting by the kitchen table, her hands wrapped around a mug of what Cassie assumed was tea. Molly was at the stove and it looked like George had been right about it being time for lunch.  
  
"I told you, I was hungry." Her mum glanced at the arm George still had around her and just took a sip of tea. Cassie raised her chin and silently dared her to say anything about their earlier conversation.  
  
"Okay. I can understand that. Molly's got lunch about ready."  
  
"So . . . I forgot to ask. When are you going home?" It was sort of a rude question, but Cassie suddenly wanted her to leave very quickly. She wasn't supposed to be here . . . ruining her last day of being at the Burrow.  
  
"I'm not. I'm staying here until tomorrow. You'll be coming back with me. Unless you want to go home today?" Cassie ignored the hopeful note in her mother's voice.  
  
"No. Tomorrow. That's when everyone else is leaving. Besides don't you want a bit of a holiday?" She felt like smirking, but kept her facial expression carefully neutral.  
  
"Being away from my family is never something I want, dear. And I want the five of us to be together again. That's all." Cassie heard the ring of steel through her mother's words and didn't answer. She was probably taking everything all wrong. They usually got along so well. But as she ate the wonderful soup Molly had prepared for lunch and listened to the conversation around the table, she realized that maybe they had always gotten along because she had always done everything her mother wanted her to do, rather than any innate sameness in their personalities. Well, that wasn't going to be the case anymore. She had her own brain and her own opinions. And she knew what she wanted. And if it wasn't the same thing her mother wanted anymore, then that was just going to be tough, because she wasn't going to be pushed around. After Ashenhurst, she could certainly stand up to her parents. Neither of them had access to a wand.  
  
George seemed to sense the tension in Cassie's body and several times looked questioningly at her. Cassie just ate her soup and listened to everyone else and didn't volunteer any information to either her mother or her "supposed" boyfriend. By the end of lunch, though, she was really angry. How dare her mother come here and tell her what she could and could not do, and to call this last month a holiday . . . that was just . . . and to say she had just been playacting at Hogwarts . . . it was just ridiculous! That's all! She was being an idiot! After lunch, Cassie helped Molly wash up and didn't even explain anything to her mother as the dishes were magically cleared, washed, dried, and put away. She did her usual cleaning of the table and counters and helped with the heavy pot, which always was stubborn about being dried magically and needed someone to do it by hand. Molly tried to shoo her out of the kitchen so that she and her mother could talk some more, but Cassie resisted and eventually the witch just shrugged her shoulders and didn't say anything else. When that was finally over, Cassie wanted to go upstairs to be with Hermione and Ginny, who were packing their trunks for the next day. Her mother caught her arm.  
  
"Cassie . . . can we talk?"  
  
"I . . ." It was on the tip of her tongue to say no, that they had talked enough, but Molly was beaming at the two of them and she didn't have the guts to be rude in front of her. "Okay. I guess so."  
  
"Where can we have some privacy?" Cassie just shrugged. She actually knew a few places, but she didn't necessarily want to spend the time in the laundry room.  
  
"It's a lovely day out - spring is practically coming early. Why don't you two go walking. You could use the fresh air!" Molly had grabbed a heavy cloak of her own to give Rebecca who had brightened considerably at the idea of being outside.  
  
"All right. I'll get my cloak." She climbed the stairs slowly and analyzed what exactly her mother had said that had made her the most upset. Was it really what she had said, or the nagging feeling that maybe she was right about George really needing to marry a witch. Ginny and Hermione were chatting as they were packing up their clean clothes and school books.  
  
"Hi, Cassie! It's nice your mum could come!"  
  
"Yeah. Nice."  
  
"What did you need?" Cassie crossed the room to the third bed and looked at the empty spot on the floor.  
  
"My winter cloak. Molly thought we could use some fresh air. Where's my trunk?"  
  
"Didn't they tell you?"  
  
"Tell me what?"  
  
"You're sleeping with your mum tonight. In Bill's room. Tonks has already left to go back to her house, so there's plenty of -"  
  
"Tonks left?"  
  
"Yeah. Didn't you notice she wasn't at lunch?" Now that she thought about it, Cassie realized Hermione was right. She hadn't seen Tonks since this morning.  
  
"I wanted to say good-bye. I may never see her again. And I want to sleep in here tonight!" Cassie looked longingly at "her" bed. She wanted to go back to bed. Maybe when she woke up this time everything would be right again. Everything was going so horridly wrong now.  
  
"You can see her in the morning. She's helping us get to King's Cross. Well, helping Harry but the rest of us are going, too. So's Lupin."  
  
"Lupin? He was at lunch!"  
  
"But I think he's gone now. He was supposed to see what they needed to do with Grimmauld place to get it habitable again. And next week's the full moon again so he needs to find somewhere to -" Cassie sat down on the bed.  
  
"This is great!"  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Everything! My mum doesn't think George and I should see each other after I leave." Both girls were silent. "So you agree with her?"  
  
"No!" Ginny said hastily, but Hermione said "Yes!" and Cassie scowled.  
  
"I thought you had decided it was all right?"  
  
"It's one thing when you're here. I decided there was no use fighting about it. But when you go home . . . you'll meet other Muggle boys and then . . ."  
  
"My mum is the one who told your mum that after you left, she wouldn't let George come see you anymore. So, she got that idea from her, I'm sorry to say." Ginny stood up and slammed the lid down on her trunk. "But she's wrong. She can't really do anything to control him, no matter what she thinks."  
  
"Your mum . . ." Cassie felt the tears gathering in the back of her throat again and hit the pillow hard. "I thought she liked me!"  
  
"She does. She loves you. It's just, well . . ."  
  
"I'm not a witch, right! I thought this was all over with! I thought everyone knew how George and I felt and they were okay with it."  
  
"I think everyone was hoping that once you got home . . . you would just sort of, uh, forget about it." Ginny said and she glared at Hermione. "Of course, she knows she wouldn't forget about Ron, and I wouldn't forget about Harry, but you . . . your feelings are real enough or something to last!"  
  
"I don't think they're not real! And I never said that I thought you'd forget! I just thought that . . . you know, you'd realize why it wouldn't work." Hermione scowled back at Ginny and Cassie just got up, shook her head at the two of them and walked over to Bill's room where her trunk was sitting at the end of one of the beds and her mother's blue suitcase was at the end of the other. She grabbed her warm cloak out of her trunk and slammed it shut with a very satisfying crash. Great. She loved the idea of sleeping with her mother. And if she was here all night, she and George wouldn't even be able to kiss good-bye. Wonderful. Things were just getting better and better.  
  
Once outside, Cassie had the fleeting thought that Molly must be mental. It was freezing today and a stiff wind was blowing that made the cold air seep in even through the heavy cloaks the two of them wore. After 20 minutes, her mother was shivering hard and Cassie wasn't far behind so they made a direct beeline for the Burrow and the warmth of the kitchen. They hadn't really said anything much. They had tried vainly for a few minutes, but the wind was blowing the words out of their mouths and making it hard to even understand what the other one was saying anyway.  
  
Cassie glanced at her watch. It was only 1:30, which meant at least five hours before dinner when there would again be something to do. Then another three or four hours before she could go to bed. With her mother in the bed next to her. And what was she supposed to do with her mother now? Show her photograph albums? Take her out flying? Sit and chat about the news of the war? Yeah. That would go over well. Fortunately, her dilemma was solved a few minutes after she came back downstairs from putting away her trunk, when both she and her mother were looking a little awkwardly at each other in the living room.  
  
A gray barn owl arrived with a Sunday Prophet, which normally wouldn't have been that exciting, but once Harry opened it, that changed. "You made the newspaper! And it's a pretty nice article, too!"  
  
"Who? Me?"  
  
"Well, Pia Spencer . . . but yeah! It's all about the arrests and everything."  
  
"Read it to all of us, Harry! Who wrote the article?" Molly asked, obviously thrilled at the idea.  
  
"There's no byline I can see . . . but I'll read it."  
  
"Wait! Let's get everyone down here so we can all hear it together." Harry kept skimming as Molly ran into the kitchen to call down the people who were still upstairs.  
  
"This is great! Fudge comes off looking like a hero, but I don't expect anything else from the Prophet."  
  
"I thought you were going to wait," Cassie laughed. Harry blushed and folded the paper up.  
  
"You're right. I'll wait. I just hope they hurry. I'm dying to know what they say." Cassie's mother was studying the paper with undisguised curiosity and even picked it up to look at it.  
  
"The pictures move in the paper, too. I can't believe it!"  
  
"All wizarding pictures move. It's normal for them, and strange for them to see ours where everyone just stays still." Cassie smiled. "It's the same for paintings. They can even talk to you."  
  
"Yes, I know." Her mother smiled at her in the same warm way she always did and some of Cassie's anger melted away. Maybe she had been over-reacting earlier. This was her mother. Not the enemy.  
  
"How do you know?"  
  
"Don't forget we were in hiding these last few days, too. And there were paintings there. Lots of paintings. Your father and I about screamed our head off the first time one of them introduced himself, which then scared the others so that they didn't speak to us again for almost a full day. I still say they should have warned us, though, when they settled us in."  
  
"Where were you hiding, anyway? They wouldn't tell me."  
  
"You know what, sweetheart? They didn't tell us, either. It was a house. A big house, obviously belonging to someone quite wealthy because the furnishings were very fancy. And I think we were on the west coast, but we never saw anyone from the area, so we were only guessing that by the way the wind blew and the fact we could sometimes smell the ocean. But we were comfortable there. Worried, of course, but comfortable." Cassie suddenly felt guilty for not asking sooner where they had been all that time, for just focusing on her own self and not on the rest of her family. Her mother seemed to sense that because she reached over and patted her knee.  
  
"We were fine. Very well taken care of. Beds were made and clothes washed and things - I sometimes wondered if the entire building was magic. Fires were lit and . . ."  
  
"A house-elf. They had a house-elf, Mrs. Robinson. That's the sort of thing they do."  
  
"But we never saw anything that looked like an . . . elf?"  
  
"No, you wouldn't. They aren't really supposed to be seen. If they're a good house-elf. Unfortunately, most of my experience has been with ones who aren't quite that efficient. But, in theory, you could go your whole life and never see one."  
  
"Ah. Well, then. See, Cassie? We even had a house-elf."  
  
"Be glad you didn't see it. You wouldn't have been impressed. They're, uh, sort of frightening."  
  
"Hey! They aren't frightening." Harry laughed. "Just not very elf-like. Well, what you would think of as an elf."  
  
"Do they have sort of bat-like ears and are they bald?"  
  
"Yeah, that's a pretty good description."  
  
"Then I owe John an apology. He kept talking about a friend he had made, but we thought he was just making him up to sort of deal with the change, you know, as kind of a security thing. He kept insisting he was real but that he was very shy. Matthew teased him about it." Both Cassie and Harry nodded, but the rest of the family came into the living room, and Harry snatched up the newspaper to read the article out loud. He stood, cleared his throat, and began.  
  
"'Nightscall Arrested' is the headline. Which I guess makes sense. He'd be the most important of the bunch. Okay, here goes the article. Now, remember, I didn't write this. I'm just reading it."  
  
"Read already, Harry!" Ginny said and everyone clapped in agreement.  
  
"Just reminding you. Here goes: "Yesterday morning, in a very surprising development, a devious plot was exposed that has led to the arrest of a number of prominent wizards and shaken even the Ministry of Magic and will almost undoubtedly leave aftershocks for many months, if not years, as our community tries to come to terms with the loss of these great wizards."  
  
"Oh, yeah. They're great all right - great prats!"  
  
"Ron! Stop it. Let Harry read." Ron smirked at Hermione, but Harry continued without comment.  
  
"This reporter is not exactly sure of the original circumstances and no one who would know is willing to speak to us. However, Mr. Percival Weasley, personal assistant to Cornelius Fudge, . . ."  
  
"Oh, Merlin! You must be kidding! What are they doing quoting him?"  
  
"May I continue, please? Mr. Percival . . . yeah, assures us that a young witch, Miss Pia Spencer, saw this meeting and has since then been working tirelessly to expose the wizards involved. Yesterday, everything came to a head as she was to put her memory into a Pensieve so that it could be used to testify against those she had identified in a trial. Some of the wizards who knew she had seen them that night but had been unable to find her previous to this time, hoped to stop her from doing so, and were trying to kill her. We do not understand why they had such a hard time finding her, as we have been informed that she has been at Hogwarts for the last month. However, be that as it may, they couldn't. Cornelius Fudge was with the young witch at the time and helped defend the girl by personally stunning several of the conspirators. Others ran but were stopped by some of Fudge's assistants who were there as well."  
  
"Fudge's assistants!" yelled Fred. "You cannot be serious! Tell me you're just teasing us!"  
  
"That's what the article says."  
  
"And I love the fact he supposedly stunned several . . . he was locked in the room! He didn't even come out until it was all over!" George practically grabbed the paper out of Harry's hand. "He wasn't even smart enough to try a simple 'Alohamora' spell on the door to get out himself. The prat!"  
  
"And I was only at Hogwarts for a little more than a week, not a month."  
  
"Like I said, I'm just reading the article. I am not responsible for its content. Now quiet down so you can hear the rest. At press time, these are the wizards arrested so far: Nicholas Nightscall, acting head of the Ministry, undoubtedly drawn in to the unfortunate situation because of his position. There was no comment from his family or his solicitor, but we are sure he will be released soon. Fortunately, Cornelius Fudge is feeling strong enough to resume control of the Ministry and so he assures us that he will be back in his office Monday morning.  
  
Singent Sootspinner new head over the Aurors, seems to be the main instigator of the group. The Aurors were even forced to look for members of a secret organization who they were convinced were fighting against the Ministry. Also included in this sweep was Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived who only last summer came out of hiding to prove once again why You-Know-Who fears him. These arrest warrants have been rescinded and we trust that there will be apologies issued to those affected by them."  
  
"I hope so. I would like a formal apology." Molly said and Fred nodded at her.  
  
"Mum, shush." Molly just shot a look at Ginny and Harry continued.  
  
"Richard Blackman, who is connected in some way with the Office of Muggle Relations, was another wizard arrested. His supervisor insists that he does not actually work inside of the office and that they had no idea what he was doing or why he chose to align himself with these other wizards.  
  
Lucius Malfoy, (everyone booed loudly at his name, even Cassie) who was arrested yet again, (Harry grinned) must be starting to be very familiar with the legal process. It seems to this reporter that at least once a year he is arrested for one reason or another, the details of which are unknown. His family solicitor insists that he is innocent and that there is all a misunderstanding. We are unsure this is true. Time will tell."  
  
"It'll tell all right! It'll tell he's a big prat. And I love the fact that they blame Sootspinner, when in fact we all know it was Malfoy who started this whole thing." Harry nodded in agreement with Bill, but continued.  
  
"Also arrested is one of the only wizard member of Gringott's Bank, Caedman Grimwood. We are unsure of his position in the group, although helping with the financing would be the seemingly obvious answer." Bill raised his eyebrows, then stood and bowed to applause, as he had been the one who had suspected Grimwood to begin with. "David Ashenhurst was almost killed before he was arrested although we do not know the details of how this happened. Amelia Bones, who was supervising the arrests yesterday morning, refused to tell us more about him except that he attended Hogwarts and finished three years ago." Again there was a chorus of boos all around, but Harry didn't stop reading, just raised his voice over the clamor. "Sean MacConnell, a reporter at this very paper, was also arrested although details were shaky as to what his role was in the scheme. We are examining the articles he has written in the last six months and will certainly print any apologies or retractions as we discover errors under his by-line."  
  
"The day the Prophet prints a retraction, I'll eat my shorts!" said Ron. "They've never apologized to you, have they Harry, for all the stuff they printed about you fifth year?"  
  
"No. Look, do you want me to finish this or not?" Everyone nodded, so he read the last little bit. "A wizard by the name of Cadwalder, who owns a shop in Knockturn Alley in London allowed the conspirators to meet in the backroom. He is still on the run as is the last wizard identified, a Mr. Jonathon Wilson, an American wizard, here for holiday. How and why he got involved in this scheme we are unsure and no details are being given by any others. That's it, I guess." Harry sat down to muted applause.  
  
"Typical," said Hermione. "But at least they named them all. I guess that's good."  
  
"Percy didn't know she was pretending to be our cousin, so that didn't come up. People will think that was a little strange."  
  
"Yeah, probably. Notice how Dumbledore didn't get any credit at all, and it was his plan."  
  
"I noticed," said Harry. "But he may have wanted it that way."  
  
"I'm glad the article is in the paper. So at least people know now. But they never said what the group wanted to do. You know, about killing Harry. And they never mentioned about the Prime Minister."  
  
"No, of course not." Ginny pursed her lips, much like Molly did when she was disgusted about something and Cassie was surprised at how much she sometimes looked like her. "Because it was the prat Percy giving the interview. So he didn't know."  
  
"Ginny, dear. He is your brother." Molly clucked her tongue.  
  
"Sorry, Mum." But she rolled her eyes at Cassie, who smiled back in sympathy. The group sort of broke up then, everyone going separate ways and back to whatever else they had been doing. George got up from where he had been sitting on the floor by Fred and came over to Cassie.  
  
"What are you going to do this afternoon?"  
  
"Uh, I'm not sure. Have you got any ideas?"  
  
"Yeah, actually, I do. How about if we teach your mother how to play Exploding Snap and the three of us get a good game or two in before dinner?"  
  
"Exploding Snap? What's that?"  
  
"It's a really fun game. The cards blow up sometimes. But don't worry, Mum. They don't hurt, just make a loud noise and a little smoke."  
  
"Okay . . . is it hard?"  
  
"No. You'll like it, I think." And she did. They spent the rest of the afternoon playing. Fred, Harry, and Ron joined in. Even Ginny sat in on a few games, although Hermione never did, saying she needed to get her schedule ready for the upcoming term and didn't have time for such things. Cassie's mother loved to play cards and actually was a really excellent bridge player, so even though at first the exploding cards had frightened her a little, once she got into the game, she ignored them and played like winning was a matter of life and death, which made the boys happy as that was the way they liked to play best.  
  
Cassie was actually surprised when Molly announced that dinner was ready and thought at first that they must be eating early for some reason, although when she looked at the time, she realized that wasn't the case. They had just played the entire afternoon away. "I'm sorry I didn't help, Molly."  
  
"Nonsense. You were spending time with your mother. You have always been very helpful and you deserve a bit of a rest. It was no trouble." Cassie still felt guilty, but there wasn't much she could do now anyway. Dinner was on the table already.  
  
Arthur was at dinner which was the first time Cassie had seen him since George had carried her up to bed much earlier that day. He looked wan and exhausted and George explained in an undertone that he was helping take care of the paperwork for all of the arrested wizards and also helping to track down the last two. "I think they found Cadwalder, though. So that's good news."  
  
"Oh. He was the shop owner, right?"  
  
"That's him. I don't know how much he was actually involved, beyond supplying the meeting place."  
  
"Mm. Did you know him? Being a fellow shop-owner and all?"  
  
"No. Uh, Knockturn Alley merchants aren't exactly welcomed in the merchant group meetings for Diagon Alley, you know." Dinner was good as ever and by the time they stood up from the table, everyone was groaning that they had eaten too much. Molly and Rebecca said that they would handle the cleaning up. Cassie wasn't sure what to make of that, but George didn't give her much of a chance to protest, hauling her out of the kitchen quickly. "It's our last night here. Don't spend it doing dishes." Cassie had to agree with his reasoning but was a little disappointed when he didn't take her somewhere they could be alone. Instead, they just sat in the living room and visited with everyone else. Ron and Harry finally got nagged enough by Hermione that they went upstairs to pack their trunks, coming back down 10 minutes later and insisting they were finished. She scowled and nagged some more, but the boys insisted they were done and she finally shrugged in resignation.  
  
"If we run behind in the morning because of you two, I'll never forgive you, Ron Weasley!"  
  
"Uh huh. Okay." But he wasn't really listening because Fred challenged him to a game of chess and he was setting up his pieces at the moment. Cassie's mother was suitably impressed at the moving pieces although she didn't play chess and so didn't watch much of the actual game. For a long time, George just sat with his arm around Cassie and didn't say anything at all, just held her close and let her visit quietly with her mother. Cassie could tell her mother was a little bit uncomfortable with the idea of George holding her so close, but she ignored that and just tried to keep the conversation on light and interesting topics, like family members the family had seen at Christmas and what the boys were doing in school.  
  
Finally, it was time for bed and Cassie unwillingly followed Rebecca up the stairs and into Bill's bedroom. Her mother fell asleep almost instantly but Cassie lay there, thinking. She tried her hardest to think about really interesting things so that she wouldn't fall asleep and even lay flat on her back, a position she hated, so that she wouldn't accidentally drift off. Fortunately, she had slept so much the last day and a half that she wasn't really tired and so she was able to stay awake until her mother had been breathing steadily for at least 30 minutes. She quietly got out of bed and slipped her bathrobe on. She was back to wearing her flannel pyjamas as she knew her mother would die if she tried to put George's shirt on. With the bathrobe on top of that, she was really hot. But there wasn't much she could do. She crept silently over to the door and opened it. Her mother didn't move or shift and all and so Cassie stepped out into the hall and shut the door behind her. At this point, she was still safe. If someone saw her, she could always say she had to go to the toilet. But as she walked as quietly as possible down the hall and then up the stairs, she knew that excuse wouldn't stand scrutiny anymore. She was on dangerous ground, now. She carefully avoided all the places that she knew squeaked but her heart was still pounding loudly as she stopped in front of her destination. She knocked quietly, appalled at how it seemed to echo through the quiet house. But no alarms went off, no one yelled.  
  
It was a few moments before a very dazed-looked Fred opened the door. "Oh. I, uh, oh. George, you have company. I'm feeling suddenly rather peckish. I'm going to go down for a bite to eat and a very large mug of hot cocoa. I'll be back in about, oh, 30 minutes or so." He grabbed a robe and left Cassie still standing out in the hall looking in at George, who was rubbing his eyes and blinking sleepily.  
  
"Is something wrong?" He stood up, obviously very worried, and then realized he didn't have a shirt on. He grabbed one off the floor and threw it over his head, approaching her quickly. "Are you okay?"  
  
Cassie just looked at him, so overwhelmed that she didn't even know what to say. She shook her head. "You're not okay?" Then she nodded. "You are okay? I . . ."  
  
"I'm fine. I just . . .I didn't want to leave in the morning and . . ."  
  
"Yeah. I know you said you didn't want to go home, but . . ." He stopped because Cassie had suddenly collapsed against him, sobbing, and he wrapped his arms around her. He drew her carefully into his room and shut the door behind them. "Do you mind?" She just shook her head and let him lead her where he wanted to. He sat her down on his bed, which was still warm from where he had been only a minute before and then he sat down on Fred's. But she was still crying, so after another few seconds, he came over to his own bed again and sat down next to her, wrapping his arms around her.  
  
"I'm going to miss you so much. I can't stand the thought of leaving! And I feel terrible about it, too! But you're going to forget me. I know it. You're going to find some nice witch to date and . . . I'll just be a, a, a fling that you barely remember." She clutched his arms tightly and then threw her arms around his neck.  
  
"Oh, sweetheart. Is that what's bothering you?" She nodded, embarrassed as a hiccup echoed through the room from her sobbing. "Well, it's just not true. I'm not going to forget you! You're not going to give me a chance because I'm going to be visiting you all the time."  
  
"You are?"  
  
"Yes. There are some distinct advantages to being a wizard. I can just pop in anytime. And now I know where you live. So just try to keep me away."  
  
"Your mum said she won't let you come see me."  
  
"Well, I'm a bit old for her to try to stop me, but . . ."  
  
"And my mum and dad don't want you to come, either."  
  
"Ah. I see." He looked seriously down at her face as he raised her chin. "But what do you want?"  
  
"I want . . . you." He bent down and kissed her and his mouth tasted like mint and George and she sighed as he deepened the kiss, holding her head still in his big hands. After a few minutes, he lifted his head again and brushed softly at the tears on her cheeks with his thumbs.  
  
"It's rather bad form to cry when someone kisses you." She smiled, and was amazed again at how he always managed to make her feel better, even when she felt terrible.  
  
"Sorry." He just pulled her close and tucked her head under his chin in that way that always made her feel the safest.  
  
"I bet if I talked to your dad and mum a bit, told them that I really wanted to date you . . . like a normal boy would, they would come around. What do you think?"  
  
"I don't know. I thought they had kind of decided they liked you, but then today, my mum said some rather rude things and I don't know . . . said I should date other people."  
  
"If you want to, you can." Cassie froze suddenly. That had been the last thing she wanted him to say at the moment. "Of course, I'd have to kill him afterward, but you can."  
  
She relaxed. "You don't really want me to?"  
  
"Of course not! I love you, Cassie Robinson. I really love you. If you weren't so young, I . . . well. Look, I want to do the best thing for you and for me. I think we need to date. And I mean really date. I'll come visit you and we can go to a . . . movie and dinner. And then you can come with me to meet my friends and then I'll come meet your friends and . . ."  
  
"You would do that?"  
  
"Yes. I want to know everything about you. I want to see where you go to school and go on walks all around your neighborhood. And, I don't know, whatever you do for fun, I want to do that, too."  
  
"But . . . you couldn't, could you?"  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Well, I mean . . . you are kind of, um, not a Muggle."  
  
"Do you think your friends could tell by looking?"  
  
"No. I mean, I guess not. As long as you don't wear your robes." He laughed.  
  
"Well, it's settled then. And we can write each other. Nice long letters. I want you to tell me all about your school and your friends and your family. And I'll keep you informed about this lot. And you can come to the Alley to visit me sometimes. It's not far from your house, really. After all, Harry said he went right by it once when he was with you last summer."  
  
"He told you about that?"  
  
"He told me. Said you had a very interesting time at some museum. We could do that sometime, too."  
  
"That was rather fun." She wiped at her eyes. "Do you really think it'll work?"  
  
"I think, sweetheart, that if you want something badly enough, you can make it work. I want it badly enough. You need to decide if you do."  
  
"I do."  
  
"Okay. Then we will. I'll come visit soon and get your mum and dad's permission. And I'll bring my dad along. They have a rather hard time saying no to him." Cassie smiled and snuggled closer to George, feeling much more confident about the two of them than she had since she had woken up to find her mother sitting in her room. George held her tight for a minute. "How long ago did Fred leave?"  
  
"I don't know. Maybe 20 minutes ago or so. Why?"  
  
"I don't mean to take advantage, but I want to kiss you so badly that I think I might just die if you say I can't."  
  
"I have a rather hard time saying no to you." And George's eyes got wide and then he picked her up and set her on his lap, then tilted her head and kissed her. Very thoroughly. She lost herself in his kiss, kissing him back with just as much frantic passion as he was kissing her. Her hands were running up and down his back, then slipping under the silk of his shirt to feel his warm skin. She remembered how he had liked that before and she even tried to unbutton the blasted thing before he raised his head, looked very seriously at her and moved her hands.  
  
"Not here, love. You're just too tempting at the moment." And then he kissed her again, untying her bathrobe and reaching under it to her pyjamas. He raised his head again and looked down at her. "I haven't seen these for a while."  
  
"I thought my mum might die if I put your shirt on tonight."  
  
"Darn. You look so good in it. Of course, you look nice in this, too." He stroked his hand over the soft flannel at her waist. "Not that there's much you don't look nice in. Wear my shirt at your house, okay? When you can?" Cassie just nodded and then kissed him. His mouth opened under hers. He let her control the kiss for a little bit, but then drew back. "Can I . . . lay down with you? Just for a second?"  
  
She knew she should say no, but she felt fairly safe. Fred would be back any moment, so she nodded shyly. He laid her back against his pillow and she breathed in the smell of him before gasping slightly as he laid down next to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close to him. "We really should not be doing this. Your mother would kill me." This was much more intimate than it had been last night and Cassie shifted slightly in embarrassment. "Just a second, love. I promise." He didn't even kiss her, which was probably good, all things considered. He just held her close to him, stroking her arm. She kissed his neck a few times and he sighed. "I'm going to miss you so badly. I can hardly stand the thought of your leaving."  
  
"I want to stay. But I have to go."  
  
"I know." There was a soft knock on the door and Fred stepped inside.  
  
"Ah. Sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt. I can go get more. . ." Cassie sat up, rather awkwardly pulling her untied bathrobe from under George's leg.  
  
"No. We were just talking. I need to get back before my mum notices I'm gone." George sat up, too, and grasped her hand.  
  
"I love you. You know that, right?" She nodded.  
  
"He does. Talks about you all the time. It's quite sickening, really."  
  
"Thanks, Fred. I appreciate the help."  
  
"Whatever I can do." They kissed once more at the door before she reluctantly left him standing there and descended the stairs again. She laid awake in bed for a long time, trying not to think too much about the way he had felt laying next to her and the fact that if he ever wanted to, he could apparate anywhere in her house he felt like. No. It was definitely best not to think about that.  
  
The morning was rushed and panicked. As Hermione had correctly supposed, neither Ron nor Harry had actually packed their trunk the night before and that meant that when they accidentally overslept it through the entire house into total chaos. Remus and Tonks both were sniping about the schedule, Mrs. Weasley was yelling about how the girls had managed to be packed and ready why couldn't they do the same, Fred kept slipping the kids Wheezes samples, some of which were actually exploding at bad times, Pigwidgeon choked on an owl treat, and Hedwig refused to get into her cage until Harry cleaned it out rather haphazardly with some sort of vanishing spell that only seemed to get the worst of it. All in all, Cassie gathered, this was a pretty typical start-of-term ritual but by the time they flooed out of the Burrow with great green flashes of smoke and flame she was almost happy to see them go. They had hugged good-bye and promised to write, but they were too rushed to really get too emotional. Arthur was taking her and her mum, home, and he was also in a hurry, saying that he needed to get back quickly to his office as the Ministry was undoubtedly in complete chaos after Saturday's events.  
  
So, despite a last minute hug and good-bye kiss from George, her departure was rather anticlimactic. They were using the same ugly little knick-knack figurine she had used most of her time there and she and her mother both sat down on her trunk before Arthur held it out to them. George waved good-bye, Cassie smiled, and then she grabbed the portkey, felt the now all-too-familiar feeling of being pulled inside out by her navel, and then, suddenly, her time in the Wizarding World was over. And she wondered, in the split second before everything dissolved around her, if she would ever see the Burrow again.


	75. Letters

Chapter 75  
Letters  
  
January 7  
  
Dear George,  
  
Thank you! Oh, George! I cannot thank you enough! I cannot believe you spent so much money on me. I am going to name her Athena - she is so beautiful! Okay, too many exclamation points but I just love her already. She obviously arrived safely with Icharus although they both looked exhausted from carrying that big cage. Mum isn't too sure about my having an owl of my own but I assured her that I could take care of her without any problem and she seems reconciled to the idea of my writing to you all the time and needing my own owl to do so. Anyway, I recognized Icharus right away, of course, when he was pecking at my bedroom window, but I wondered about the smaller owl with him. At first, I thought he must have a girlfriend . . . but then I read your note and I actually screamed out loud. My mum thought something was wrong and she came racing into my room and I had to admit I was just so excited. She was not overly impressed with my screaming although she does agree she is beautiful. And yes, that book on taking care of a post owl would be extremely helpful. Thank you for offering.  
  
Love, Cassie  
  
January 12  
  
Dear Ginny,  
  
Thanks for your letter. I am sorry about Saffron, too. But do give my love to Elspeth (and Colin) and Rhiannon and hopefully Saffron will decide to come back to school when the furor dies down. It seems a pity to be so close to the end and to quit. Tell her that Draco never let the fact that his dad practically has a revolving door named after him in Azkaban stop him from attending Hogwarts and it never seemed to stop him from tormenting Harry either. This is Athena, by the way. George gave her to me! Isn't she beautiful? Hugs to Hermione, Ron, and Harry when you can. Good luck on playing Hufflepuff this weekend. I'll be thinking of you, and yes, I am just about caught up with my school work, thanks for asking.  
  
Love, Cassie  
  
January 16  
  
George, that was the most thoughtful thing ever - well, maybe second only to Athena. I absolutely love the new Falcons sticker. Will it really work when you're all the way at the Burrow and I'm still here at home?  
  
Cassie  
  
February 12  
  
George,  
  
All right, I found the dress I'm going to wear for the wedding on Saturday! Mum took me shopping this afternoon and it's absolutely beautiful. She found a pretty one, also. And my dad dusted off his tuxedo. My whole family is excited to come and see everyone again. The boys are hoping for some more fireworks. If you will bring them I will hide them until afterwards. I would not even want to think about them setting the things off in the middle of the ceremony! I'm bringing a camera and taking a regular picture of you. The one you sent last time was great but I can't really show my girlfriends a picture that's moving, now can I? And they don't believe I really have a boyfriend if I don't even have a picture of him!  
  
So, we'll be ready at 10 when you come with the portkey. Can we land somewhere clean so when I fall on my tush (which I inevitably will) my dress won't get dirty? I can't wait to see you again. It's been three weeks and I'm going nutters without you!  
  
Love, Cassie  
  
March 16  
  
Dear George,  
  
Congratulations!! And kisses to your Dad and Mum! I'm pleased but not really surprised because Fudge never really did recover from that whole incident, so when you said he retired a couple of weeks ago, I thought that it was possible that your Dad might get promoted. I know, I didn't mention it to you, but I really did think that. Great picture of your family on the front page of the Prophet, by the way. (Yes, that was sarcasm! How old were you there? 10?) And no, I don't think that the son of the Minister of Magic has to act any more dignified than you always do! Of course, I love you. Others may not be quite as willing to overlook your eccentricities. And thanks for the chocolates. You could have warned me about the bunny ears! My girlfriend Brittany almost ate one when she saw the box on my desk but I managed to convince her not to. I swear, your stuff should come with a warning label!  
  
Love, Cassie  
  
March 25  
  
George,  
  
I'm really nervous about coming to your birthday party. You told everyone I'm a Muggle, right? And they don't mind? I know, you're right about trusting your friends, but I'm still nervous. And I have no idea what to get you for a present. Mum says that a book is always nice, but I don't think so. Maybe some clothes. How about socks? Just kidding. And I really should get something for Fred, too, I suppose. Help! Send ideas! Oh, and congratulations to him for finally getting the nerve to ask Angelina! Yes, I think a long engagement will be good for the two of them. Don't tell him I said this, please, but he is a little bit flaky. Not like you at all. Well, not much.  
  
Love, Cassie  
  
April 2  
  
Dear Hermione,  
  
Help! I need hints! I saw George yesterday at his birthday party, of course. (Have you ever been to a party with the twins' friends? They are all certifiably insane - just thought you would want to know) My girlfriends at school want to meet him and are going to come next week to my house for dinner with him. He is all excited but I am absolutely terrified. How did you introduce Ron to your family and friends?  
  
Yours, Cassie  
  
P.S. Don't worry so much about your N.E.W.T.s. Harry said you are practically killing yourself and him and Ron, too. You will all do just fine. And I'm sorry Snape is still being such a creep. But do you really expect anything else?  
  
C.R.  
  
April 5  
  
Hermione,  
  
Please tell me you are kidding about it being that much of a disaster! Please! Do you think this is a mistake? George is a little bit more together than Ron, I think. No offense intended. But I don't think he would be mental enough to mention his broomstick or the fact that he doesn't know what "eckeltricity" is good for at the dinner table. I hope.  
  
Cassie  
  
April 11  
  
George,  
  
No, they do not think you're an idiot. Just a bit, uh, strange. But I had already told them that you have lived out of the country for most of your life so you're not really up on all of the cultural sort of stuff. Figured that would explain the lack of knowledge about music, television shows, and movies. I didn't know that they would ask about current political events. I didn't know that Amber knew the word politics. I don't think I've ever heard her use it before. You did a good job of covering up, though. They want to get together again in a few weeks. Would you be up for a go?  
  
Love, Cassie  
  
May 8  
  
George,  
  
That was the best birthday party I have ever had! It was a total surprise! And I'm not just saying that! Tell your mum thank you for all the food and everything and no, I'm not still mad at Fred although it took three washes to get all the green out of my hair. It was so great to be back at the Burrow! It's much different in the spring -- and yes, my ankle is healing very nicely although my mum insisted on taking me to the doctor to see if it was infected. I couldn't tell him that I got the bite from a garden gnome so I told him that I was babysitting and the kid bit me in the ankle. He laughed and laughed. Uh, Bill and Fleur didn't waste any time, did they? Are your parents happy about having a new grandchild in a few months? My parents send their love to your parents. Tell them to come by sometime, although I know your dad is really busy lately with the war and things. It doesn't affect us much here, so sometimes we forget. But we think about you all the time.  
  
Love, Cassie - 17 and an adult in the Wizarding World! Yeah!  
  
June 12  
  
George!  
  
You didn't tell me how bad things were getting there! I don't want you hiding things from me ever again. Ginny told me about the battle and how you and Ron and Harry almost died! So, see, I always find out and it's worse not knowing in advance so I can pray for you. I get so nervous about your fighting, but I know you are strong enough to win this war. And I told Harry the same thing. I worry about his mental health. Ginny tells me that he almost never sleeps now and that he's lost a lot of weight. She thinks that he's focusing so much on defeating Voldemort that he forgets he has to live afterward. I'm worried about him and I'm worried about you. Please, please come and visit me soon. It's been almost a month since I saw you last and I miss you. I know that things are hectic, but I need you. I need to hold you and know that you are still alive and healthy. Come anytime, middle of the day, night, whatever. And no, my mum does not mind. She's been coming around. I think she realizes now (finally) how much I love you. She says you are always welcome as long as we visit in the living room. I think Matthew told her about when we were kissing in the office last time. The brat. I was really wishing my wand worked. I would have done the bat bogey hex on him because after you left he teased me for a week.  
  
You know I love you! I need you to stay alive and healthy and to come to see me very soon. Please!  
  
Cassie  
  
June 28  
  
Dearest,  
  
So. It's over. I feel like there should be parties or parades or at least a mention on the telly. But, of course, there's not. My family had a mini-celebration for you. We read the newspaper you sent from cover to cover and laughed and cried and hugged. Dad poured us all a glass of wine and we toasted Harry and your Dad and, let's see, "A new world that's free from the shadow of Lord Voldemort." And you. We had a special toast for you. I insisted. John didn't like the taste of the stuff, but he drank a bit just for you. He says to tell you he deserves a box of candy from you in payment. I'm coming to see you and Fred tomorrow. Ginny is coming to get me and we're both coming to St. Mungo's. She hopes they'll let her in to see Harry this time. She says you're not quite as bad off so I can certainly get in. I miss you. I'm going to beg my mum to let me stay overnight with her so we can stay all day at the hospital and then come back again in the morning. When do you think they'll let you go home?  
  
C.R.  
  
July 15  
  
George, thank you so much for the invitation. Attached you will find my dad's formal acceptance letter. He says it is necessary that he let the Ministry know that he will be attending as an official government representative and not just as the dad of the girlfriend of the son of the Minister of Magic. Whoo. Did that make sense? Whether it did or not, we wouldn't miss it for the world! Mum and I are coming to Diagon Alley next week to get her some formal robes. Dad, of course, already has some for those meetings he has to attend with your dad. And he looks very handsome in them although he always says he feels like a nutter in a dress. I think it is very thoughtful of your dad to have the official celebration marking Voldemort's defeat on Harry's birthday. That will be doubly nice for him. Ginny says he is doing very well, trying to eat and build up his strength again. Certainly by the end of the month he'll be feeling up to dancing. John and Matthew were pretty disappointed that they can't come but I told them it would just be a stuffy old party. They don't believe me, of course. They love you and Fred so much. I promised them you would come get us that night and say hello to them. Would that be all right? I know we don't really need you to come, now that dad's got his own permanent portkey set for the Ministry, but it made them happy. This time, though, be sure to apparate down the road and walk to the door. You scared 10 years off the life of the babysitter last time, just walking out of the office like that! She thought you were an intruder and it's lucky she wasn't armed. She would have killed you. Dad had to pay her extra to get her to come back. She said something weird was going on in our house. She doesn't know the half of it, does she? Anyway, when we come to the Alley, we will be sure to stop by your store. And I told Mum she could go to the ice cream parlor afterward and have "my" drink. Come with us, please!! You were serious about it being sold there, right? She is unsure about drinking something that explodes in your stomach, but she's getting braver about things like that.  
  
Love, Cassie  
  
July 26  
  
George,  
  
Are you serious? You wouldn't joke around about something like that, would you? My mind is racing. I haven't dared ask my mum and dad. I'm too nervous they will say no. I'm trying to think up a million arguments why I should be allowed to spend a week with "Ginny" at the Burrow after the party. But, of course, they know you still live there and I am pretty sure they'll see through whatever reasons I give. Here's what I've come up with so far:  
  
1. Ginny misses me and needs moral support while Harry finishes recovering. That will only work if Harry looks weak and wan at the party. Could you arrange that? A Fainting Fancy would go a long way to helping on this one.  
2. Ginny needs someone to quiz her to get her ready for her N.E.W.T. year and I'm pretty good at it and Hermione is too busy to help.  
3. Molly needs help getting ready for Fred and Angelina's wedding. (So much for the long engagement idea, huh?)  
4. Elspeth is coming for a visit and wants to see me.  
5. Hermione is trying to get her own wedding planned and wants advice.  
6. The Quidditch World Cup is going to be on the WWN and I can't pick it up at home.  
  
Those all sound pretty lame, don't they? Let's face it. They'll know I just want to be with you again. Matthew says whenever we're together it's a snog fest. But now I can tease him back because he has a little girlfriend of his own. Of course, they're too young for actual "snogging" but I think he's not as opposed to the idea, now. All right. I'm going to be brave and ask. Tonight. Wish me luck.  
  
Cassie (I've got my fingers crossed)  
  
July 28  
  
Yes!!! I can't believe it! I'm going to pack right now!  
  
August 11  
  
Ginny,  
  
Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you! The big 17!! I suppose that means you can get your apparition license soon? That will make Harry happy, I know. And now you can come visit me, too, until school starts again for you. George can tell you this but in case he forgets, you need to apparate into my dad's office and then knock and we'll tell you if you can come out or not. My parents don't like the idea of someone being able to just pop in anytime. My mum freaks out if someone sees her in her bathrobe. I guess I don't blame her, really. Especially since it is usually either your dad or George and sometimes Remus who come. My brothers don't even think girls can apparate although I've told them that's not true.  
  
Now look. Stop being so melancholy about being away from Harry for a year. I'm surviving being away from George with only occasional visits. Yes, yes, I know. You're practically engaged. But still. Just write a lot of letters. That's what keeps us sane. And yes, it's true that we see each other more than you probably will as you can only go to Hogsmeade on Saturdays every once in a while, but somehow I think you and Harry will find a way to get together more often than that. You're both rather sneaky, you know. And Hermione won't be there to nag you about following school rules.  
  
By the way, I hope you like the present we got you. George is supposed to make sure to tell you it's from both of us. And I really did send him half the money, so he won't be lying. Send me an owl about when we can get together and use it. That'll make more sense once you see what it is.  
  
Gryffindors forever, Cassie  
  
August 29  
  
Dear George,  
  
School starts for me again next week just like it does for Ginny. I'm really dreading going back this time. It's hard for me to concentrate on school work and things. I just miss you so much! And I think about you all the time. I am now officially one of those stupid giggling girls who writes the name of her boyfriend in little hearts and curlie-cues all over her school papers. In school it's not so bad because there is a lot going on. But it's when I'm supposed to be doing my homework and writing essays and things that my mind tends to wander off. I know you said you really want me to finish school and my mother would kill me if I didn't, but it's tough. I just want to be with you and I start a million letters to you and then I daydream about your coming and it's just terrible. You're right about my finishing my education, but I just . . . I want to be with you all the time. Do you think I'm obsessed? Should I see a psychiatrist?  
  
Anyway, my friends are getting together in two days to have a bit of a end-of-holiday party and Sara specifically said to bring you. She thinks you're hilarious. And she wants you to bring more of those "poppers." Everyone loves them. When your website is finally up and running, assuming that ever happens, I think that should be the first item you offer. Can you come? Please? It starts at 8 and if you come here to pick me up we can walk over there together. Just wear jeans and a T-shirt. It'll be very casual. Food, music, dancing. Just to convince you that you really want to come, I bet we can sneak off and kiss for a while. No one will notice if we disappear for a bit.  
  
September 1  
  
A brain doctor. You talk to them about your problems and they try to help you deal with them. No, they do not shrink your brain. I was kidding, though. I was. Honest.  
  
September 19  
  
Dear Hermione,  
  
Happy Birthday! You are now officially 18 so even your parents have to accept that you're grown up and legal. I know that things are crazy with the wedding less than a month away but I was hoping we could get together and have lunch. It would be my treat. Just us two girls, please. I can't afford to feed Ron. Just kidding!  
  
As you will notice, Flourish and Blott's now sell gift certificates! My idea is catching on all over the Alley! This should be enough for you to get something very nice for yourself. Maybe some cookbooks. And no, that is not a slam. I think you're a pretty decent cook. Well, all right, so the last time you cooked for the six of us it wasn't so great, but you were so excited about telling us about your research at the Ministry that you forgot about the food. Perfectly understandable. And I always say that if you know how to dial a phone and have the number for take-out handy, you'll never starve. But I know that you want to have everything perfect at your new house, so get something like that. Or not. Whatever. Let me know on lunch. I would even go with you to F&B's to get the books afterward if you want. And maybe we could stop at WWW. Would you mind?  
  
Cassie  
  
October 7  
  
Dearest Absent-Minded One,  
  
It would have helped if you had ever asked if I wanted to go to the wedding with you. I just assumed that I would be going with my parents since no handsome red-headed wizard had bothered to see if I would be his escort. I realize that you were in the wedding party (you looked very handsome, by the way) and that you were busy doing important stuff like drinking too much Firewhiskey at the Bachelor's Party the night before and everything, but inviting your girlfriend to the wedding personally was probably something that should have been at the top of your to-do list.  
  
I am sorry I made you late. The Grangers invited my family to come early and so we drove over there. I am sorry I didn't think to wait just on the off chance that you decided to apparate in to get me. I know Hermione is mad at both of us since we delayed her procession by about 2 minutes while you got into line, but I think she'll get over it. In a year or two.  
  
You do realize that next week is the anniversary of our first kiss? Over ice cream. I thought we could have a bit of a re-enactment. That might make up for the being late thing. Although the dancing helped in that arena. At least, you didn't seem too upset when you were kissing me in front of everyone on the dance floor.  
  
Cassie  
  
November 1, noon  
  
George. I am writing this in a dark room so excuse the scrawl. My head is still throbbing. I think you should kill Lee slowly, or maybe use Cruciatus or something on him. Or at least Ginny's Bat-Bogey Hex. I am going to pay Harry to do the same to you, though. Lee shouldn't have spiked the punch with Firewhiskey. But you shouldn't have pretended you didn't know. Now you know that getting me drunk does not make me more romantic. It makes me sick. My mother was not impressed with your excuses. I better be feeling better by tomorrow or she may hunt you down in Diagon Alley and kill you. She is nagging my dad to yell at your dad. I keep telling her that it was Lee's fault. Again, she is not impressed. From now on, I'll bring bottled butterbeer anytime I am with your friends. But yes, I do forgive you.  
  
And just for your enlightenment the next time you know I'm hung over (assuming I ever drink again) don't you dare send Icharus at 6 a.m. to inquire after my welfare. I almost strangled him. Seriously.  
  
C.  
  
November 29  
  
Congratulations, Uncle George! It's a boy, now why doesn't that surprise me? Ginny said that he's got red hair (another big surprise) but that he looks more like his mother. She said they were going to name him Francis after Fleur's father but that Bill doesn't like that name because it sounds too girlie. I think they should have decided this a long time ago. After all, you have 9 months to think about it. And they had to have known it was going to be a boy. Besides, there's nothing wrong with the name Frank. Do Wizards have christenings or anything like that? A naming ceremony? I'd love to see him. Maybe you could send me a picture. And yes, it can move as it would just be me and my family who would see it. I doubt any of my girlfriends would care to see a picture of your nephew. Not that they don't love you dearly. And they think you're very romantic. They are constantly nagging their boyfriends to be more like you. But that's beside the point. Give my love to Fleur and to Bill. And let me know if I can come see him because if not, I'll send a small gift. Maybe some clothes. Do wizard babies wear Nappies? Have you ever heard of Pampers?  
  
Auntie Cassie? (Ugh!)  
  
December 26  
  
Dearest George,  
  
I hope that you enjoyed your first Christmas away from your family as much as I enjoyed mine last year. It was fun, wasn't it? No enchanted mistletoe this time, just the regular stuff, but notice that it was my mum who pointed out that we were under it. See, she really does like you. And I think she's completely forgiven you for the Halloween disaster. Pretty much.  
  
I loved all the gifts your family sent and please hand out all these thank you notes. I tried to address them all individually, but Athena kept glaring at me so I decided one package would be better and then you can just pass them around.  
  
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Again. I know I told you that about 100 times yesterday, but really, I am just completely blown away. The watch was nice enough. I'm almost afraid to wear it, it's so pretty. But then, the computer! I still don't know how you picked it out. It's perfect. And no, I don't mind that you had ulterior motives. I told you I would help you with the web site stuff and my dad's old one just didn't have a fast enough modem. But 56K - that's the fastest ever, so it'll last for years. And a 1 Gigabyte (that's computer talk) hard drive is huge. I've already got it set up and running. I checked the site and bought something. Everything seemed to be working nicely. The graphics are great. I'll let you know if the candy comes when it is supposed to. I do want to work on the descriptions of your merchandise a bit, though. They're a bit dry. They don't really capture how fun and unique all your products are. I'm also thinking of getting some testimonials from people. That will help convince people who are thinking about buying that the stuff is worth the money.  
  
I think that sounds wonderful for New Year's. My mum gave me money for a new set of formal robes as I keep wearing the same ones over and over again. Not that they're not lovely, but it is getting to be a bit embarrassing. So, I'll buy those before Thursday and then I can go to the Ministry Ball with you looking really nice. I can't believe it's been a whole year since the Pensieve incident (although I still remember how horrible I felt afterwards). It doesn't seem that long, really. It'll be good to see everyone again. The last time I saw Professor Dumbledore was at Ron's wedding and I think that may have been the last time I saw Tonks, too. We'll have to spend some time visiting. But I think we can certainly sneak off for some passionate kissing. It's good luck, you know. So we have an excuse.  
  
Yours, Cassie  
  
January 17, 1999 (can't believe it!)  
  
Dear George,  
  
There was no need to have a fit. It was a movie. That's all! And if I had any reason to expect that they would have said anything derogatory about witchcraft, I can assure you we wouldn't have gone. I didn't know. And I didn't realize that I would have to pre-screen any movie I took you to - not for sex or violence, but for mention of magic. We looked rather foolish and my friend is convinced you are mental. Seriously. But I still love you. Honest.  
  
Cassie  
  
March 21  
  
G,  
  
No. I don't think you could get away with selling Canary Cremes on your website. Too magical. Sorry. Not that I don't love them. My mum doesn't even bat an eye now when the boys eat them, but I just cannot imagine how you would explain the effect without the word "magic" in the description somewhere. And we don't have a magic reversal squad to come out and fix it if something goes wrong and someone gets stuck half-way between canary and human. Don't ask again. I mean it. It's not going to happen.  
  
C  
  
April 3  
  
G,  
  
You're going to have to talk very fast and hard to get me to go to any more parties where Lee Jordan is in attendance, even if it is your birthday. I don't really like him much. He's like you and Fred together on steroids or something. All he does is goof around and tease and, quite honestly, torment people. The spider thing was uncalled for. I don't care if it is his pet tarantula. The thing is huge and it scared me half to death. And I'm not afraid of spiders. I thought Ron would die. Lee needs a girlfriend. Ask him how he feels about dating Muggles because I have a girl in mind that would settle him down and they would be good together. And I think she could handle the magic stuff, really. Let me know.  
  
C.  
  
May 7  
  
Dear George,  
  
I woke up this morning and laid there in bed feeling absolutely on top of the world! Then I pinched myself to make sure I wasn't imagining things. Twice. Then I looked at my left hand and realized I wasn't. Oh, darn. I'm crying again. Sorry about the smudgy ink. It's just that . . . well, I never imagined, never in 100 years, that we would actually ever get engaged. I thought that if you ever really did want to marry me, which I prayed for every single night, that we would have to run away together because either your parents or my parents would be opposed to the idea. And yes, I knew that all of them had kind of come to terms with the thought of a Muggle and a wizard falling in love, but I kind of thought that when it actually came down to us getting married, someone would complain and we'd have to elope. But then, there you were, down on one knee, in front of your family and my family, asking me to marry you. And everybody cheered and my mum was smiling and my dad was clapping your dad on the back and Hermione was grinning and I knew, that despite everything else, they know we belong together.  
  
I do love you, you know. More than anything else in the entire world. It won't be easy. I know. But we can make it work. I have to go to school now. My girlfriends are going to die when they see the ring!!! It's so beautiful. I can't believe it's really mine.  
  
As for a date, well, I'm thinking sometime this summer. For one thing, that would give your mum a breather before Harry and Ginny's wedding, which I assume will be in the fall. And no, I don't know anything you don't know. But I do know they are planning on getting married. And since he hasn't proposed yet, they'll have to wait until after us. Don't you think that's only fair?  
  
Cassie Weasley (just trying it out)  
  
June 15  
  
10 days until I finish school. 66 days until we get married. That seems like forever away, although it's getting closer. Your mum is coming to our house this next weekend to discuss plans. You are invited if you want to come. My mum has stocked up on all the latest bridal magazines. But I told her that I want to do my own thing, you know, kind of a mix between Wizard and Muggle weddings. That's what we are going to discuss. Hopefully, no blows will be exchanged. My mum says it's her only chance to plan the wedding so she gets to make the final decisions. She says your mum gets to plan Ginny's (assuming Harry ever gets up the nerve to propose) without the hassle of worrying about in-laws, so she thinks that she shouldn't worry about this one. Maybe she's right. But Molly still loves you and wants to have some input. Like I said, I hope no one comes out swinging.  
  
I do agree with you that I think we should live in London. Not too far from Diagon Alley. And I don't care if it is in a Muggle neighborhood or a magic neighborhood. It's probably easier for us to live in a magical area because our neighbors could know I'm a Muggle but it's a little harder the other way. As for Fred's suggestion, I'd like to see the place before we say yes. I love him. And I love Angelina. So it's not that. It's just that when the two of you get together . . . well. Let's just say that neither Angelina and I are completely sold on the idea of living next door to each other. Although Fred is better than Lee Jordan. And no, I still haven't forgiven Lee for the spider trick. You can tell him that. He had better get us a really, really fantastic wedding present. I mean it.  
  
Pia Weasley (do you like that better?)  
  
July 1  
  
George,  
  
51 days. It's official then. My mum is officially demented. So is yours. I am not going to have two completely separate weddings. We have to find some way to work out the wizard/Muggle conflict. There has to be something we can do. I've asked Hermione for suggestions but she wasn't too helpful. Her parents were a lot more willing to do things the wizard way because she's a witch, of course. My mum doesn't seem to be willing to bend on this point. She says she can accept the fact that her grandchildren might set her hair on fire by accident when they're 2 years old and that she'll be going to Hogwarts for Quidditch games when they're 15 but she won't have a wedding without her family there and since your mum is insisting on the whole magical lighting candle thingie, she doesn't see how it could ever work out. Help?  
  
Cassie Robinson-Weasley (I'm not sure about this one)  
  
July 21  
  
31 days. What if there aren't any Quidditch games? Will you die if they can't fly? I mean by themselves. We have to think about this. I haven't slept for two days in a row worrying about it. I keep picturing them asking me why they can't go flying with their cousins. I keep imagining that what if we have three kids and only one of them can't fly. How would he or she feel? How would we tell them? How could I bear it? How could you bear it? Do you think we're making a mistake? Ginny says that we shouldn't worry, but then she doesn't have to, does she?  
  
July 31  
  
Dear Ginny,  
  
Congratulations! I knew he'd ask you eventually. I thought he might wait until your birthday rather than asking on his. But, whatever works, right? Yes, George and I did have a really long talk about kids and magic and stuff. I cried a lot and he cried, too (don't tell him I told you). He said that he would love any of our children no matter what and that so would your parents. I'm terribly frightened about it, though. When do you find out if a child is magic? I know that Frank isn't showing any signs yet, but he's only 8 months old so no wonder. Do you have to wait until they're older? How will we live with the not knowing? Every day wondering if today will be the day they accidentally do magic? Do you really think it is possible that George would love them all equally, even if some could do magic and some couldn't?  
  
Anyway, enough about me and my problems. I still have 21 days to figure things out. That's plenty of time. Sure. Plenty. I think December is a wonderful time to get married. Early, though, so your anniversary doesn't get forgotten in the rush of Christmas. And yes, I think Hogwarts is a very romantic place. There are some beautiful rooms there. Harry loves it there, so I think it is absolutely the best solution. I'm sure it will be a huge crowd. And not just because of Harry. Your dad, too. You'll probably wind up having to invite every single wizard in the entire country and some from abroad, just so you don't offend anyone. Of course, that just means more presents. So, you can't complain.  
  
Cassiopeia Weasley (What do you think? Too pretentious?)  
  
August 12  
  
George,  
  
9 days. I've thought and thought about our plan. I think it is the best solution, really. The only solution. I'm excited and nervous. My parents were really hesitant at first when I told them last night but this morning they told me that they'll support us if that's what we decide to do. Let me know what your parents think, especially your dad. I think we probably better make sure to get permission in writing. But I know that he always felt that Muggles and wizards should be closer together, more aware of each other. Maybe, although it sounds a bit corny, this is the first step in that process. You better tell me quickly if we have to make a change. If you're still coming for dinner tomorrow night, that will be soon enough.  
  
Love always,  
  
Cassie  
  
August 19  
  
2 days. I love you. Tomorrow will be hectic and busy and crazy. I'm driving over to the apartment at 10. If you can come, great. If not, that's fine, too. But don't be late for the rehearsal dinner, please. I need you there no later than 6:30. Remember, I love you. I love you more than I ever thought possible. I'm scared. I admit it. Terrified, actually. My mum says that everyone gets nervous before they get married, but I think I have more reason than most to be a bit anxious. But, I'm a Gryffindor, remember? So, we'll face what happens and live with the consequences. I love you.  
  
Yours forever after tomorrow,  
  
Cassie Weasley (almost)


	76. The Final Plan

Chapter 76  
The Final Plan  
  
Cassie Robinson rolled down her car window and let in a breeze. She really needed to get this air conditioning fixed but that would have to wait until next month. It had been an exceptionally hot week and the poor little cooling system just hadn't been able to take it. She pulled to a smooth stop in front of a group of new attractively decorated flats and she glanced at her watch. Good. She was a little bit early. The sooner she could get done here, the quicker she could get to running the rest of her errands. She had a long list of things to do today and they were all critical. Opening the door a moment later with a key she had only added to her key ring a few days ago, she glanced inside and was not surprised to see that the flat was still empty. Well, that would probably change very soon. He never passed up a chance to see her, especially if the two of them were going to be alone. Those times were getting more and more rare as time went on. She went right into her office and flipped on the computer, letting it boot up as she checked the rest of the flat.  
  
She loved it here. He had basically given her carte blanche on the decorating, insisting that he didn't know anything about it and didn't really care as long as he had somewhere to sit and somewhere to sleep - with her - the rest didn't matter. She laughed out loud remembering how that conversation had gone. So she had recruited her mother's help in picking paint colors and carpet and then had picked out a few really great pieces of furniture which would last for years. She hadn't gone too wild because they thought they would probably move into an actual house after a few years and she would want to decorate that with new pieces. But what they had now looked nice and inviting. She looked into the second bedroom, which at the moment was a mess. "Athena - I thought I had told you to stack the presents you brought on the floor. If you don't, they fall onto the floor and some could break." Her owl looked at her with an expression that Cassie could have sworn meant "I'm a bird - don't expect me to think of such things" but then she tucked her head back under her wing and went back to sleep. "Sure, ignore me. I don't mind." She started moving some of the wedding presents which were stacked haphazardly on a desk into a more organized pile on the floor. Of course, all the wrapping paper was magical and the figures and flowers were moving. She had gotten used to that now, although sometimes if she just caught movement out of the corner of her eye, she still jumped. She looked around for Icharus but determined he wasn't in the room. Probably out getting more gifts. They already had an unbelievable number of gifts from the wizarding guests. As she had laughingly told Ginny, because of Arthur's position as Minister of Magic they had to invite practically every wizard in the country. She had forgotten that meant she would have to do the same. And even though the presents were nice, it also meant a lot of thank-you note writing. Maybe she should insist that he write them all. She would handle the much smaller pile of gifts from the people her family had invited.  
  
She went back into the office and sat down at the computer. She logged on to her internet provider and listened to the series of beeps and clicks that indicated her computer was being connected to her server. She planned on logging on quickly and checking the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes web site, which was generating a fairly large amount of business. She had taken over quite a bit of the day-to-day running of the site and wanted to make sure things were in good shape before she left. Suddenly, though, the screen went blank and the computer fell silent. She sighed in frustration and turned around in her chair. "How many times have I asked you not to do that?" He just laughed.  
  
"I can't help it that my stunning personality sends your electronic stuff into fits."  
  
"Right." But then she grinned and stood up to hug him. "I'll forgive you today."  
  
"Good." George bent and kissed her, holding her close, threading his hands through her hair. "Hmmm. You taste wonderful."  
  
"Must be the muffin I stuffed in my face on the way over here. I've got a huge pile of presents out in the car. Be a love and float them into the back bedroom, would you?"  
  
"Float? The word is levitate. Float sounds so . . . .unmagical." They both laughed softly as this was a discussion they had had many times in the past and she liked to use the word float just to annoy him. They walked out of her office into the main room and then he continued on into the room she had vacated not long before. "I see Icharus is gone again. This place is a mess! And how many more of these blasted presents are we going to get? I foolishly thought people actually brought wedding presents to the wedding!"  
  
"It's a mess because you want to set up your workshop yourself. If you want help, just ask for it." She looked at the piles of boxes stacked haphazardly on almost every available surface. George had brought them from the Burrow almost three weeks ago, promising to get them unpacked and organized before the wedding, but then he and Fred had been terribly busy at the shop and since he was leaving for two weeks he had had to find someone to help out which had been a lot more trouble than they thought. She shook her head and finished answering his question. "And a lot of people like to have the shopkeepers send the gifts. Saves them the trouble of wrapping them themselves." Cassie clucked her tongue soothingly at Athena who had lifted her head from under her wing again and was glaring at George. "Come on out of there. It can wait until we get home in a couple weeks."  
  
"Home - I like the sound of that!" He pulled her by the hand into the larger bedroom. "This is looking really nice." Cassie had just brought all the bed clothes two days ago and he obviously hadn't been here to see how it all looked since then. He sat down on the bed and pulled her closed to him. "I can't believe that in a little more than 24 hours I'm going to be marrying you. And then -" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively and Cassie giggled.  
  
"I know. I can't wait, either. I can't believe that it's finally here." His large hands wrapped around her waist and held her still as he put his face against the thin material of her shirt and kissed her stomach through it.  
  
"Let's make out a bit. I promise I'll be good." She looked down at him and then ruffled his hair, marveling as always at how thick it felt in her hands.  
  
"Very tempting, very tempting. But you've waited this long. I think you can wait another day." He growled in frustration.  
  
"Right after that blasted ceremony is over, I'm taking you into a back room and ripping-"  
  
"George! Stop it, silly. You won't have time for that right then." He growled again and pushed the material of her shirt up, baring her stomach. He had discovered fairly recently that she was very ticklish there and loved to make her laugh by rubbing his face against the sensitive skin. Her laugh deepened and turned into almost a groan. "Don't do that. You know it makes me-"  
  
He laid back suddenly, pulling her down on top of him, shifting her quickly so that their faces were even, looking solemnly at each other. "I know it makes you wild. I want you wild. For me."  
  
"I am already." He brought his hand up to her hair and held her face still as he kissed her.  
  
"Not wild enough or you'd be ripping my clothes off." She raised an eyebrow at him.  
  
"As I said, tempting, very tempting. But . . . I've got to -" He groaned and rolled away from her, covering his eyes with his arm.  
  
"We should have just eloped. This has been the biggest pain in the tush."  
  
"But think of all the good stuff we would have missed."  
  
"Yeah, like what?"  
  
"Give me a few minutes to think of something." He sighed and laced their fingers together.  
  
"So . . . what exactly is on your to-do list today?"  
  
She breathed out a puff of air, and thought back to the list in her car. "Final fitting for the dress, flowers, photographer-"  
  
"Are you still going to that Muggle photographer?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Why? Colin said he would do these pictures for free as part of the package."  
  
"I know. He'll take enough tomorrow. Today is for my mum."  
  
"I just-"  
  
"Trust me. Then my mum and I have to see the baker about the cake and then hair and makeup."  
  
"The baker is doing your hair and makeup? That's interesting." She punched him on the shoulder and then sat up.  
  
"Very funny, George Weasley." He sat up next to her.  
  
"That's one of the things you love about me."  
  
"Yes, it is. Usually." She considered him for a long moment. She still couldn't believe this was all really happening. Even after they had become engaged, the wedding itself had seemed like a distant dream that would never actually come to pass. But here it was. And everything was going to be absolutely perfect - as long as they could get through tonight. "What have you got to do today?"  
  
"Me? Hmmm. I have a busy schedule. I have to take a nap. Eat lunch. Take another nap. Then, about 6:15 I'll roll out of bed and throw on some clothes from the floor and pop over to some sort of meeting. Or maybe I'll just skip that completely."  
  
"You just think you are a barrel of laughs today, don't you? But seriously. You have three things that you have to do. Do you remember what they are?" He gave her a pleading look.  
  
"Please . . . please don't make me do this."  
  
"George. You promised."  
  
"But I've never talked to a Muggle travel agent before. I'm going to embarrass myself."  
  
"No, you're not. The tickets are all paid for and everything. All you need to do is go pick them up."  
  
"Come with me."  
  
"No. You already heard what I have to do today. You can't go get my hair done. I have to do that. You have to go get the airline tickets."  
  
"And then I have to go get . . .traveler's cheques?"  
  
"Yes. And those are all arranged, too. But you have to go sign yours. I already did mine."  
  
"Why didn't I go with you?"  
  
"Uh . . . Fred kept you late at the store, I think. All you have to do is go sign them. Then they'll do the rest."  
  
"Can I use a quill?"  
  
"If you want. I told them you normally used one. They were amused, but accepting. After all, we paid for the things."  
  
"Fine. What if something goes wrong?"  
  
"You have my phone number. Have them call me and tell me what's going on."  
  
"You know I really love you, right?"  
  
"Yes. I do."  
  
"Well, come on. I'll get those presents out of the car and then you can go get all those things done." They stepped outside into the heat of the morning. "Is the car unlocked?" She nodded, after clicking the button on her keys. She didn't really know why she ever bothered to lock it because if anyone in this neighborhood decided they wanted to get into it, a lock would not keep them out. But it was a habit that she had a hard time breaking.  
  
"Hey, Cassie!" Cassie turned and grinned at her almost-sister-in-law.  
  
"Hey, yourself. How are you feeling?"  
  
"Pretty good, I guess. I've stopped upchucking 15 times a day. Now I only have that fun about twice every morning."  
  
"Poor thing. How much longer?"  
  
"Who knows? You'd think someone could tell me as I do work with a lot of healers. All they can say, though, is . . . you're fine, baby's fine, you won't die. It's all very comforting."  
  
"Have you stopped hexing Fred every night for doing this to you?"  
  
"Mostly." The two girls watched as George levitated the presents from the car into the flat. "You have him so wrapped around your finger."  
  
"Me? No, I don't."  
  
"Has he agreed to fly on an airplane?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Has he agreed to go to Disneyworld?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Has he agreed to stay at a Muggle hotel?" Cassie nodded, knowing where this was headed. "Well, there you go."  
  
"He's going to absolutely love it."  
  
"If you say so."  
  
"We could have gone somewhere and laid on a beach. But this will be better."  
  
"I hope you're right."  
  
"Trust me. When we get back, you'll see I was right."  
  
"You girls talking about my studly self? Hey, Ange."  
  
"No. We were talking about your little trip across the ocean."  
  
"Oh. Yeah." George grinned. "Don't worry, Cass. I'm going to pop right over to the travel agent."  
  
"You'd better. I mean it. I guess I'd better go." She glanced at her watch. She barely had time to meet her mum. "I'll be late and that will throw off the entire day. I love you, George. I'll see you tonight. 6:30. No later, right?"  
  
"Right. I'll be there. I'll lock up. You go ahead and go." Cassie kissed him quickly and then hopped into the now boiling hot car for the fairly short drive. Ten minutes later she maneuvered her car into a tiny parking space on the crowded street and threw some coins into the parking meter. She could see her mother waiting outside the shop.  
  
"Hey, Mum."  
  
"Hi, Cassie. I was starting to wonder if you and George had -"  
  
"Don't even go there. We're waiting. One more day. We just got talking to Angelina. She's doing pretty well. She's still really sick, though." Her mother nodded.  
  
"Perfectly natural. It's good, though. It means the baby is strong and healthy."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"I think so. That's what I've always been told. Come on. She'll wonder where we are." They stepped into the dark coolness of the pub and Cassie waved at Tom.  
  
"Last time for a while, Tom. I bet you'll be as happy to get this wedding over with as we will be."  
  
"Nonsense, Miss Robinson. It's been a pleasure to help you out. Mrs. Robinson. You are both looking lovely today."  
  
"Thanks, Tom. I appreciate your lying," Rebecca said as she fanned her hot sticky face with a napkin. Tom just grinned as he tapped the bricks and let them into the Alley. They hurried as quickly as they good down to Madame Malkin's although it turned out that she was with a customer, a young Hogwarts student by the looks of the robes she was trying on, and she just waved them toward the back room. Cassie sat down in the comfortable chairs provided while her mother looked at the gown hanging on the rack.. "Okay. This looks really nice. I wasn't sure at first, but I think you made a good choice."  
  
"I think so. If there's a problem tonight, we can just forget about -"  
  
"Aaah. I'm so sorry about that. It is getting to be my busy time, you know." The shopkeeper entered then, smiling happily at the two of them.  
  
"Yes. Of course. We appreciate your seeing us today."  
  
"Everything is done. We'll just do a quick fitting and then I'll get it ready to go." Cassie took the gown off the rack and walked into the large fitting area. Her mother helped her slip the white satin over her head and they both looked in the mirror. Her gown was very plain, a straight white sheath that hugged her figure. The neckline was a simple princess style, but had delicate seed pearls around the collar, the only embellishment on the whole thing. The gown was almost sleeveless, a nod to the fact it was August, although she had decided against the strapless look that was so popular in wedding gowns if you believed the bridal magazines. Madame Malkin bustled in a second after her mother had fastened the last button up the back.  
  
"Stunning, absolutely. You look lovely."  
  
It's perfect."  
  
"Well, it's very plain. But I think that was a wise decision, all things considered." She fussed for a few minutes before declaring the gown perfect and then smiled broadly at the two of them. "Are you ready?"  
  
Cassie grinned nervously. "I think so. How did it turn out?"  
  
"Words cannot describe. A work of art. Absolutely." She left the room and came back in with a large swathe of material that made Cassie catch her breath. The silk was so fine that it was practically transparent and the gold embroidery that decorated its surface almost seemed to be suspended in mid-air. The shopkeeper helped her into the robes, arranging them so they fell in graceful folds over the plain white satin, enhancing it, framing Cassie in the soft cloud. "Ah, yes. Perfect." The embroidered unicorns were moving with a delicate grace over the silk and Cassie fingered one as it pawed at a pearl button.  
  
"Madame. These are more beautiful than I could have imagined." The seamstress flushed at the praise and Cassie looked up at her mother.  
  
"What do you think?" Rebecca just shook her head.  
  
"You are so beautiful." She sniffed and Cassie found herself blinking back tears of her own.  
  
"Do you really like them?"  
  
"Yes. Yes. Oh, yes."  
  
"You don't think-"  
  
"I think they're beautiful. I just hope you get to wear them."  
  
"I will. I'm not worried. I'm not going to give these up easily." Madame Malkin fussed a bit over the hem and then stood back and looked her over with a critical eye.  
  
"Yes. Very nice. Would you like to see the bridesmaids' dresses? Now that they are finished?"  
  
"Oh, yes! When are they going to be picked up? I thought they'd already be gone."  
  
"This afternoon. Don't worry. They will be picked up in plenty of time." She went back out into her workroom and brought in a stunning confection of dark blue and gold.  
  
"It's beautiful."  
  
"Yes. And all the girls look beautiful in them. The color is so rich."  
  
"And my brothers-in-law all look good in their robes?"  
  
"Yes. The blue with the red hair. It is a good combination."  
  
"Good. I have to admit I was nervous."  
  
"No reason to be. I will always take care of you." Twenty minutes later Cassie and her mother were walking with two large clothing bags out through the Leaky Cauldron, thanking Tom once again for his help over the last few weeks.  
  
Cassie and Rebecca piled the bags into the back of the car and headed off toward the florist next. Cassie had arranged to stop by this morning to pick up her bouquet and some flowers for her hair. The flowers were being delivered to the hall this evening before the rehearsal dinner so they would be as fresh as possible in the morning but she really wanted to have some for these photographs. She had always wanted roses in her wedding but her colors were gold and a dark blue, neither of which lent themselves well to bouquets of roses. However, she had finally decided on white roses with the stems dipped in gold, which apparently was not that unusual for weddings. Then she had added some deep blue agapanthus and delphiniums and it had turned out better than she could have imagined. Her bouquet itself was quite simple, basically just a mass of roses with the other flowers mixed in, tied with a large white ribbon. The florist was thrilled to see them but fortunately they were able to get in and out very quickly with Cassie's bouquet stowed in a large box.  
  
The next stop was the hairdresser's, a good friend of her mother's, who had insisted on doing her hair today and in the morning. It took more than an hour to get her hair into the tousled mass of curls that she wanted but when it was all said and done, Cassie was very pleased with the effect. Since her dress was so plain, she wanted something a bit more fancy somewhere on her and had decided that her hair would be the place. The woman arranged the blossoms Cassie gave her in her hair, making it look casual and elegant at the same time. For tonight, she would just wear it as it looked now, but in the morning, she would sweep it back and put dark blue combs in on one side to match the robes George would be wearing. The hairdresser chatted nonstop with her mum and Cassie just grunted and made appropriate noises as she worked. When her hair was done and hairsprayed to within an inch of its life, the woman started to work on her makeup. By the time they left, Cassie was almost afraid to move for fear of damaging either her hair or her face.  
  
So, although by now it was after 1 and they were both hungry, they had an appointment at the photographer to keep before they allowed themselves to eat. "This getting married is hard work, Mum."  
  
"Yes, it is. But it only happens once. Well, hopefully. And it really should be a very special day for someone."  
  
"It's going to be. But it seems like a lot of effort for one hour." Her mother had just laughed.  
  
"But you'll remember it all your life. Besides, now is not the time to complain. We're in the home stretch now." Cassie looked longingly at the second clothes bag as she lifted the one bag out and handed her mother the box containing her bouquet.  
  
"You don't think the photographer would believe it if we just told him that he really isn't seeing the embroidery move?" Her mother smiled vaguely.  
  
"Are you willing to take the chance?"  
  
"No. Pity, though. It's so beautiful."  
  
"Yes, it is. But so is the dress by itself. Come on. He was expecting us five minutes ago." Cassie was posed and photographed for over an hour in the plain white sheath. The photographer took picture after picture in every possible position. Cassie tried hard to remain cheerful although her growling stomach was making it very difficult. She knew her mother really wanted photographs she could display in her home to her friends and even intended to send small versions in her Christmas cards this year, so obviously any pictures taken by Colin Creevy at the actual wedding would not be acceptable. She allowed herself to zone off for a while thinking about George and the photographer noticed her dreamy smile and got several close-ups when she wasn't noticing. Finally, he declared that he was finished and Cassie escaped into the changing room to slip back into her street clothes. She zipped the gown back into the dress bag and carried it out. She was still behind a screen when she heard her mother talking.  
  
"He's a very nice boy. It took me a while to come around to accepting the two of them together, but he loves her very much. I guess that's the important thing."  
  
"Your daughter is very lovely."  
  
"Thank you. Do you think the photographs came out well?"  
  
"Undoubtedly. Now remind me again who is taking the actual wedding pictures?"  
  
"A friend of hers from school. He's . . . a professional himself. It's just that . . . he . . ."  
  
"Oh. Now where did she go to school?"  
  
Cassie stepped out from behind the screen and cleared her throat. "We better go, Mum. I'm starved and we've still got a few more things to do today."  
  
"Right. Well, thank you again." They left the studio quickly and Cassie glanced down at her watch.  
  
"It's 2:30. Only four more hours to go." She hugged her mother. "Thanks for what you said in there. George does love me."  
  
"I know. If I didn't, I wouldn't be working this hard on this wedding, believe me. I'm glad it will be many years before either of your brothers is even close to thinking about getting married. I honestly don't know how Molly has survived this past year."  
  
"Well, don't forget. They have all been boys. She may not have such an easy time of things come December when it's Ginny's turn."  
  
They ate at a café near the bakery and then were able to make a quick stop there to finalize delivery information for the cake the next day. The crowd they were expecting was so large that the cake was one of the more expensive available. The baker had at first insisted that no one needed a cake that big. Cassie smiled to herself as her mother finished paying. That conversation had been quite interesting that day when they had first come in.  
  
"But Ms. Robinson, I am telling you, no one has more than 600 people at their wedding."  
  
"Well, that is how many we are expecting. Really, I do not understand why you are causing such difficulty."  
  
"Who is the groom? Is he the son of the Prime Minister or something?"  
  
"Uh, well, in a manner of speaking, yes. Please, Mr. Wexler. Don't argue with us. We are the ones paying for the cake."  
  
"I understand, but it is just . . . . The Prime Minister does not actually have a son, does he?"  
  
"No, but . . ." It had taken them a long time to convince him that they were not imagining how many people would be coming to the wedding. Cassie was quite nervous about having the cake actually delivered without the bakery staff running into wizards. She had tried to arrange deliveries so that the magical ones came after the Muggle ones so that there was less chance of the two mixing although she knew that things were likely to not go quite as planned. She wouldn't be able to be there to smooth things over if something happened. Hermione, fortunately, was going to run interference and Cassie hoped that everything went well.  
  
Finally, by 4:00, all of Cassie's errands had been completed and she and her mother turned her car toward home. "I'm exhausted. I think I better take a nap."  
  
"No! You'll muss your hair!"  
  
"Mum!"  
  
"I'm serious. You want to look nice for tonight, don't you?"  
  
"Yes. All right. But I'm so tired."  
  
"You can sit in the recliner. As long as you don't lay down." Cassie groaned and eased her car through traffic.  
  
If there was one good thing about the rehearsal dinner, Cassie thought two hours later as she, her dad and her mum as well as her two brothers drove through London toward the hall where the wedding was going to take place, it was that no one was expected to dress up. She was wearing jeans and light T-shirt that her mother had helped pull over her head. She had her dress and robes in the back of her dad's car along with the bouquet along with her mother's dress and the three suits that the men in her family would be wearing, much to her brothers' disgust.  
  
The florist had come and gone by the time Cassie checked the room where the rehearsal would happen later that evening. The room looked stunning with the flowers and candles in place. She heard someone come up behind her and turned, expecting to see George. It was Ginny and she couldn't help but smile. "Oh, Cassie. It looks wonderful."  
  
"I think so. I hope . . . everything goes smoothly."  
  
"Yeah. I don't blame you for being nervous. But I think it'll work out."  
  
"What if it's just a huge disaster?"  
  
"Simple. Memory charms." Cassie laughed.  
  
"Is George here yet?"  
  
"No. But he'll be here. Don't worry. He knows he has to be here by 7:30." At first, Cassie's eyes grew wide in terror, but then she realized her maid of honor was teasing her. "No, seriously. He'll be here in time."  
  
"Did he get the tickets?"  
  
"Yes. And the money things."  
  
"Good."  
  
"So . . . Tell me. Should Harry and I elope?"  
  
"Merlin, yes. This whole thing is just terrible."  
  
"It probably won't be so bad for us."  
  
"No. Trying to do both Muggle and wizard stuff is making it much worse."  
  
"Speaking of George . . . what has he told you they're doing tonight?"  
  
"He hasn't told me anything, but I figure it can't be too bad."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"Well, my dad is invited. What about yours?"  
  
"Yes, but . . . well, I'm not sure . . . "  
  
"What? Tell me."  
  
Ginny sighed and then scowled. "My dad told my mum it was going to be an early night, that the party was supposed to break up around 10."  
  
"Yeah? That's what my dad told us, too. I'm glad because I don't want George to have dark circles under his eyes in all the photographs. And he also better not drink too much. If he comes to his own wedding with a hangover, I won't need magic to do him some serious hurt."  
  
"But listen. Harry told me he wouldn't be home until after midnight."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Ron told him that the entertainment wouldn't be over until midnight." Cassie's eyes narrowed.  
  
"They wouldn't dare."  
  
"This is the twins and my other brothers we're talking about. I wouldn't put trying to pull a fast one past them."  
  
"Maybe Harry would lend me his invisibility cloak and I can spy on them. No, I'm just teasing. I trust him. He won't do anything wrong."  
  
"But it's Fred that's organizing it."  
  
"Angelina keeps him in line. I have nothing to worry about."  
  
"Hmm."  
  
"Well, do you trust Harry?"  
  
"Usually. But then what explains the two-hour difference?"  
  
"I don't know. But I'm not going to ask. I trust him."  
  
"I hope you know what you're doing."  
  
"I hope so, too. About everything. Not just the stupid Bachelor's night thing."  
  
"Yeah. I just wish I had organized something for us girls tonight."  
  
"Even if you had I probably couldn't come. I think I've got to be available to talk to my family and friends."  
  
"You're probably right."  
  
"Can you be there with me? Just in case?"  
  
"Sure. If you want me there."  
  
"I think that might be best. And maybe Hermione."  
  
"Okay. I'll mention it to her before dinner. Your hair looks great, by the way."  
  
"Thanks. You don't think it's too much?"  
  
"No. It looks really nice."  
  
"Did you get your dress and the robe for Harry today?"  
  
"Uh-huh. Sure did. They look good."  
  
"Are you still thinking green?"  
  
"Of course. Nothing else would even cross my mind." Cassie glanced down at her watch.  
  
"Oh, Merlin! I've got to get out there. George had better be here by now." She and Ginny quickly went into the other room where a fairly large crowd was already gathering and sitting at the tables, both her family and George's looking rather questioningly at each other. She was sure that a lot of her family was wondering why there were weirdos in long robes sitting down at this dinner and she was equally sure that a lot of George's relatives were wondering why there were Muggles invited. George saw her and waved frantically from across the room. Cassie hurried over to him and fell into his arms.  
  
"I'm so glad to see you!"  
  
"Me too, Cass. You look great!" She felt her hair self-consciously.  
  
"You think so?"  
  
"Of course. I'm so nervous."  
  
"Me, too. I've gone over this a million times in my head."  
  
"You'll do great, Cassie."  
  
"I hope so." She decided to change to a happier subject. "Ginny said you got everything."  
  
"Yeah. Although it wasn't that easy. They wanted picture ID in both places and I didn't have any."  
  
"Oh, no! What did you do?"  
  
"I described you and that convinced them I was the right person. It was a close call, though, at the travel agent. They said I would need it for sure in Florida. But I have my passport so I can use that."  
  
"That's right. Okay." She rubbed her suddenly sweaty hands together. "I think we should probably get started. I just keep reminding myself that in 24 hours we'll be on the plane on the way to Florida. No matter what."  
  
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" She laughed.  
  
"Trust me. You'll love it. Have some faith in me."  
  
"I think I'll like the amusement park. It's the plane ride I could do without."  
  
She smiled. "I'll take care of you, George. Don't worry." They kissed softly and then George took her hand and led his fiancee out in front of the group.  
  
Cassie stood there in front of the group of about 100 people and looked around as she waited for them to quiet down. She didn't want to start talking until she had everyone's attention. She looked at the table where her grandparents were sitting. They looked very happy to see her getting married and she was glad that they had been in good enough health to come. Her brothers were sitting with them, fidgeting in their seats. John waved frantically at George who waved back happily. Cassie smiled at the two boys who had been so accepted by the Weasleys and so accepting of the magic in her life now. George and Fred even used them as guinea pigs (when Rebecca didn't know) for products they were thinking of selling on the website. She also looked over at the two tables of her friends from school. Her friends had been surprised to be asked to the rehearsal dinner but had been happy to come when Cassie had promised them a good meal. She also glanced at the two tables full of her aunts and uncles and cousins. They had been so accepting of George and she was excited for them to get to know him better. She also looked over at George's side of the room. All the Weasleys were there, even Percy, who had settled into an uneasy peace with his family now. Remus and Tonks were sitting at the same table as Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore, all smiling happily at Cassie. Angelina and Fred were at the same table as Ginny and Harry and Ron and Hermione and Fred was whispering something to George, who grinned back and gave him the thumbs up. Elspeth was there, with Colin, as was Neville, who had brought Luna. Rhiannon was also sitting there, although the spot Cassie had optimistically left for Saffron was still empty. All in all, Cassie thought, these were the people she knew and loved. She wanted all of them in her life and that is why she had decided that what she was going to do tonight was necessary. Fortunately, Arthur had agreed and her parents had as well. Finally, the last minute murmuring died down and it was completely quiet in the room. Cassie cleared her throat.  
  
"Thank you all for coming. I am sure that some of you were a little confused that you received an invitation for tonight. Many of you aren't in the wedding party and would therefore not be expected to come and actually rehearse. Others of you are wondering why we are eating before we rehearse since usually it's done the other way 'round. I'm sure all of you are wondering why I am up here talking." Cassie glanced back at George and saw the encouragement in his eyes.  
  
"I'm here tonight, actually, to talk to you all about George. Now, there's a lot of things you all know about him already. First of all, he's got red hair and he's fairly tall, like the rest of his family. Also, you all probably know that he has a great sense of humor and that he makes me laugh. I think most of you know by now that he's an identical twin and that they are very close. I think some of you assumed he was two-timing me when you saw Fred here tonight with his lovely wife, Angelina." There was an appreciative chuckle primarily from her family's side of the room. Cassie actually knew for a fact that one of her grandmother's had about passed out from shock the first time she had seen Fred and Angelina together a month ago and John had had to reassure her several times that it really wasn't George. "And I think most of you know that he and Fred own a joke shop and that they are very successful at it. If you want more information, talk to us afterwards. We have business cards here." Another low chuckle and Cassie knew she had stalled long enough.  
  
"But there's one thing that many of you here do not know about George, one thing that you never would have guessed. When I tell you what this last thing is, well, you probably won't believe me. You'll wonder what I've been drinking before I came out here tonight. The first time I heard it more than three years ago now, I didn't believe it either. But, if you'll just allow your heart to be open to what I'm going to tell you, you can be convinced of something that could seriously change your life. It certainly has changed mine. For the better." She took a deep breath. She had everyone's attention. Even all the wizards and witches who were present were waiting with baited breath to see if she was really going to go through with it and how it would be received.  
  
Cassie closed her eyes for a second for strength before she continued and wished that George was standing near her. She had told him that she needed to do this alone, but suddenly, she felt his arm around her waist and she relaxed against him, taking encouragement from his presence. She was going to finish it, now. "Before I tell you what this one thing is, I just want you all to ask yourselves one question. Don't answer out loud and you don't have to raise your hand. But just ask yourself if you ever in your life . . . even for one small moment, wondered if there might be such a thing . . . as magic?"

THE END! YOU'LL ALL JUT HAVE TO USE YOUR IMAGINATIONS AFTER THIS!!


End file.
